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More Great Childcare: Response to Nutbrown Review


Steve
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This is a draft of my response - have I missed anything!

 

childcare staff deployment response form7 - draft response.doc

 

No, you haven't missed a thing.........absolutely excellent response.........and led me to thinking could we be sisters mysteriously separated at birth! ;)xD :lol: xD

 

Right - must get myself sufficiently 'wound up' before I make my response!!! :ph34r:

 

Have just Ms Truss on the news - that has got me halfway there!!!

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In all the comments on ratios etc there is very little about the fact that some of us already work at 1:13 successfully. Admittedly we have occasional 'issues' but so do all settings immaterial of ratios. Somehow it's making me feel that the rest of the EY sector must feel we're doing a fairly rubbish job!

It would be good to see some appreciation of how well settings with a QTS and an EYPS as well can do! I appreciate that not every setting has a QTS and an EYPS, but feel that settings with a QTS and a NVQ3 also do an excellent job.

Rant over!

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Not at all Madmum - I take my hat off to you - at my setting I am the EYP but given my catchment and the significant amount of children that we have with special educational needs and disabilities that don't meet threshold for additional monetary support, the increasing numbers of children with EAL and those that have "disadvantaged" backgrounds there is no way we would meet any of their needs with more relaxed ratios.

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one comment within the 'more great childcare' report, makes a very good point!

 

In too many early years settings, those with graduate qualifications are carrying out largely administrative functions rather than working with groups of children'

 

this is true of my role as a graduate...will be interested to see what suggestions are made around all the paperwork which 'blights' early years office desks around the country :rolleyes:

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I think you're all being very unfair to Sainsburys, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidel and Co-op. I hope you're going to be objective and use your anti-discriminatory skills

 

horse jokes anyone.... ;) ?

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The more I read the more wound up I get! I understand level 3 trained staff but I sorry but teachers are not the only valuable people that work with children. Just because you do a two year course to become an early years teacher doesn't make you better at the job than a person with many years experience of working in childcare and with working with parents. I'm a NNEB qualified Manager of a Pre-school with over 20 years in childcare. I am studying 16 hours a week with OU on top of working 37 hours in setting to gain a foundation degree which will make me a better childcare worker according to my LA when they told me I had to do it. My setting struggles to pay me a decent wage. No way would they be able to pay a teacher's wage so teachers in Pre-schools is never going to happen. But this won't matter any way as we are worthless and children from 2 should be in a school. This could be the end for a lot of settings that are already struggling with loss of nursery funding due to school nurseries now taking children from three. Children do not need to be trained to be ready for school. For god sake just let children be children and allow them to play for the sake of playing and the learning will come naturally through play!!!!!

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Guest sn0wdr0p

After putting my heart and soul into setting up my nursery and investing every penny into it without paying myself for the past five years I finally paid myself for the first time this month - not much but enough to help with the bills at home-and now I just feel like selling up and not bothering any more.

 

I manage my setting and have a level 4 and a degree in an unrelated subject but no maths and now on top of everything the pressure is on to get my maths and then the new qualification-whatever they decide to call it.

 

I quite fancy being a stay at home mum and my husband supports whatever decision I make even if I just close the doors and walk away. Time for a serious review of the situation I think.

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I think, that whatever this government throw at us, we'll get through and hang on until the next one comes along and makes more changes. Its what we do. Any new qualifications that come along should have a section called 'hang on, wait, stall, dont do anything rash' just so anyone entering EY is aware they wont have time to implement anything fully before its discarded and replaced with the latest fad idea from someone in a suit

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Sack one staff member :( :( :( :( then you can charge less?.....

 

or pay the remaining staff more for their 'additional workload' :D

I'm doing some mental maths (I passed my maths but it was a loooong time ago!) and I can't get how they aim to charge less and pay more from all of this. We already subsidise the government funding (15hrs 2,3,&4's) - so into the equation could also be added 'reinvest into the setting/equipment etc'

 

 

100% of staff qualified to at least level 3 with English and Maths GCSE and with physiological advancements that mean that they have at least four pairs of hands, the ability to converse fluently in several different languages and the ability to interact in a meaningful way with several children simultaneously

 

and lest not forget 'eyes in the back of the head', able to see round corners, supersonic hearing, inspector gadget extending arms that can fasten shoelaces, pull up trousers, do up zips, etc one handed, unlimited energy, not affected by personal/health issues, have no life outside of early years :o

 

 

Regarding the other countries that are being compared in terms of ratio's - don't they have an overall better ethos and standard of upbringing for the children overall which means they enter kindergarten at a higher capability and therefore are better able to cope being among the higher numbers...and rolling those children forward more capable students leaving school and entering higher education, becoming responsible citizens and not the 'spoon fed' culture we see in some of our students (though there are exceptions, of course!)

 

My issue is the government need to tackle the bigger picture and make the rewards available for those willing to/in work and not the 'benefit culture' (have no intentions of ever working) we currently feed...as well as making more jobs available - not less!

 

a recent example is the long term aim to tackle 'worklessness' and reward/support low income, working families <agree>...so... they target the first wave of the 2yr old 15hrs at 'those on benefits and not working' rather than those struggling to make ends meet and work at the same time.

 

 

how specifically will the gvt ensure the wages are increased and it doesn't just end up in owners pockets - raising MW would be one way but then surely this will penalise those settings who don't believe in the ratio changes and remain functioning as they are...mmmm

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After putting my heart and soul into setting up my nursery and investing every penny into it without paying myself for the past five years I finally paid myself for the first time this month - not much but enough to help with the bills at home-and now I just feel like selling up and not bothering any more.

 

I manage my setting and have a level 4 and a degree in an unrelated subject but no maths and now on top of everything the pressure is on to get my maths and then the new qualification-whatever they decide to call it.

 

I quite fancy being a stay at home mum and my husband supports whatever decision I make even if I just close the doors and walk away. Time for a serious review of the situation I think.

 

'dislike' on your behalf - why should anyone be made to feel this way!

 

and let's remember the settings who closed when the sure start centres were first set up - some directly opposite existing daycare! (and now the SS centers have closed!)

 

It's been said before - what other sector gets dictated to and changed as much as we do?

Edited by gingerbreadman
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i also suspect that the settings in other countries do not have the same quantity of sen and eal children as we do in this country. I know that in Italy for instance children with sen needs are sent to 'private' school that have to be paid for by the parents

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I think, that whatever this government throw at us, we'll get through and hang on until the next one comes along and makes more changes. Its what we do. Any new qualifications that come along should have a section called 'hang on, wait, stall, dont do anything rash' just so anyone entering EY is aware they wont have time to implement anything fully before its discarded and replaced with the latest fad idea from someone in a suit

 

so very true - so very sad that it has to be this way :( :angry:

 

 

 

 

 

 

i also suspect that the settings in other countries do not have the same quantity of sen and eal children as we do in this country. I know that in Italy for instance children with sen needs are sent to 'private' school that have to be paid for by the parents

 

- Finleysmaid - I wanted to 'like' this - but not the bit about the children getting sent away!

Edited by gingerbreadman
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i understand gingerbreadman...i was told this by an italian Mum who was trying to get her head around our system...she actually said something very derogatory about the children which i will not repeat on here but shows the lack of understanding in some other countries! :angry:

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I've just read my response and it didn't come across the way I wanted it to, sorry Finleysmaid!

 

I'll try again lol. I went to hit 'like' as in terms of agreeing to the first part of the statement, but then realised I'd be 'liking' the blanket segregation of sen; and i so dont!! so i copied the post and manually 'liked' your first acknowledgement

 

Is this helping or is my hole getting deeper lol!

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Well, I for one have no intention of changing my ratios, its unfair to children, parent and staff to expect me too. On the upside, maybe me having a higher than required staffing ratio will become my 'unique selling point' and I will be able to fill those empty spaces I have now. To be honest, I've just switched the news off and I'm past caring what the government throw at me, I am just going to continue with what I do, knowing that it is the very best I can do for my families, so no debate or rant from me I'm afraid, just business as usual in the morning

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Chin up people! We are childcare practitioners, we can cope with anything thrown at us....just look at how far we have come...resilient comes to mind...we bounce back, we always see the silver lining and find humour even on the cloudiest day....believe me we would not be in this job if we didnt have the stamina/ capacity to keep going!

 

We work with children! Everyday we dig deep to find ways to sort staffing issues, deal with parents, work with children, sort the bills out, sort the maintenance, sort the toys out, order the food, change a nappy, comfort a teething baby or two, challenge practice, performance manage a member of staff, smile at the delivery man, open the box and its the wrong delivery, welcome the prospective parent, administer some calpol, chef unhappy about late delivery - smile and say you'll sort it, insurance running out need to sort it, oops roof leaking, staff member has allergic reaction - ambulance on its way, flooding alert in your area....and the list goes on! We are superhero's!!!

 

We will get through it!!!!! If we can do all the above day in day out, year in year out....

 

A few reccomendations will not stifle our determination, passion and enthusiasm! xxx :P

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My issue is the government need to tackle the bigger picture and make the rewards available for those willing to/in work and not the 'benefit culture' (have no intentions of ever working) we currently feed...as well as making more jobs available - not less!

 

 

This demonstrates this very clearly! Apologies for long link

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2270247/ITV-This-Morning-Couple-living-17k-handouts-say-working-minimum-wage-unfair.html

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