Guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Hi all A recently employed member of staff recently asked to leave asap due to personal financial circumstances (which was fully explained to us and we sympathise). Anyway to cut a long story short we found a suitable canidate (DPP qualified) and she accepted the position. Now 6 days before she was due to start it's 'sorry, have found another job for more money and more hours so I wont be starting'. So now in 5 days we will be understaffed! Have put a notice on our door and placed the vacancy with the job centre. So far, have one parent (NNEB) who is thinking about it over the weekend and a degree qualified person coming for an informal interview on Tuesday. We work term time only and thought that this was a handy job for someone, but it seems to be getting more and more difficult to keep staff, many of which seem to think its an easy option and think about our group as it used to be 20 years ago when it was just a playgroup, where you put out toys and the children played and then you put them away and went home. I think the observations and paperwork put alot of people off. We always seem to get 3 fully dedicated staff members and its the fourth one which seems to be the problem. Just what I needed before the weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Oh dear, vicaragefarm, I know exactly how you feel. I have found the same, especially your comment about the 4th member of staff. I have had to reduce my staff to 2, (myself and daughter) with another person as staff cover (unqualified but willing to train). IMy daughter was absent this morning, her son being ill, so I called in my cover staff, she didn't turn up until 20 minutes after the session started, luckily a parent has an NNEB and she stayed to help out for the morning too. I only have 10 children on a Friday morning but 3 have special needs and the area SENCO came in to observe as well. I'm certainly glad it's the weekend. Pleased to hear you have an NNEB considering the post, but is she really interested, I presume she knew about the previous vacancy. As for the graduate who is onterviewing next week, maybe will be the silver lining if she interviews well because your would then be eligable to £5,000 Quality premium and £3,000 recruitment incentive from the transformation fund. I would advice that you contact your local authority to see what criteria they have for the recruitment incentive, it would be a shame to lose that because they didn't know you were recruiting. Best of luck and have some you time this weekend, I think you'll need it to charge up your batteries. Peggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Thanks for the reply Peggy I wasn't aware of any grant for employing people, degree qualified or not. So that was interesting. Obviously we will look into that next week if the lady is suitable. I am not sure if the mum is really interested or not. I know if it was me I would put my name forward straightaway and not need the weekend to think about it! Especially as a job in childcare is a vocation and not a job to just fill in a few hours. And no, last time we didnt advertise the job to the parents. I know this is not the correct route to go down and we were very naughty, but the DPP qualified lady just dropped in our lap. She was looking for a place for her child and happened to ask if we had any vacancies at the same time. Anyway, now we are starting our accreditation we are following the rules to the letter of the law lol. So the job vacancy is advertised in the local community (the job centre) and to all the parents. Thanks again Peggy. I will let you know how we get on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Have a look at this link re: transformation fund. Each LEA is responsible for administering it and so you will need to know their application system / forms etc. Transformation Fund guidance and frequently asked questions Peggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Thank you Peggy, you are a wealth of knowledge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth1 Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 I wish lived near you, I'd jump at the chance. Why does the NNEB parent want to think it over the weekend? Maybe she is not sure about working with her child intow! Beth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Hi sharon I sympathise i employed a SENCO during the holidays she text me on the sunday night before we were due to start on the monday and had decided against the job. spent a week interviewing took on another lady she lasted 2weeks then told me it wasn't what she wanted. employed a young girl who changed personality between interview and starting. totally lost all motivation and devloped a bad back so she didn't have to put things out. Haave advertised this week but no takers as yet. just wonder if there is any one out there any more with any motivation to do the job except for those who are already in it. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 6, 2006 Share Posted October 6, 2006 Hi Beth I wished you lived nearby too! If only I could employ staff that had the motivation to keep up to date by visiting this site, I would be well chuffed. And I did wonder myself as to why our so-called 'interested' mum needed to think about applying for the job over the weekend. Doesn't instill confidence in her motives, but maybe I am being a bit harsh. And thanks Steph, I wish you luck in your search too. Lets hope next week brings lots of people who wake up and choose childcare as a vocation and apply for our vacancies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 (edited) So far we have seen a really nice unqualified lady who is willing and eager to train; a lady with an up-to-date degree in childcare who was very keen and extremely chatting (hard to get a word in edgeways) maybe due to being nervous, although she didnt appear nervous at all; (one no-show); and a mum with an NNEB qualification from 1992. The mum did interview very well, but I am worried that the qualification is not current and as such is it relevant to the Foundation Stage and Birth To Three Matters? She is willing to undertake up-to-date training. But it is very difficult to know what to do for the best. What do others do when interviewing? Should we take on the most qualified or the one who we think would get on best with the staff? For arguments sake we will say that they all interacted on an even keel with the children. We have at least another 5 people to interview, again with a range of qualifications. We need to take someone on more or less immediately. So any advice would be greatly appreciated. Our saving grace is that any new employee will be on a three month trial. Edited October 11, 2006 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 (edited) Don't know if this will help but a headteacher once informed me that if he had to choose between a knowledgeable person and an enthusiastic one, he would go for the enthusiastic one every time because an enthusiastic person would always be willing to learn whereas you can't teach anyone to be enthusiastic Edited October 11, 2006 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 Don't know if this will help but a headteacher once informed me that if he had to choose between a knowledgeable person and an enthusiastic one, he would go for the enthusiastic one every time because an enthusiastic person would always be willing to learn whereas you can't teach anyone to be enthusiastic Totally agree, although some knowledge is useful I score each question for each candidate, this really helps when deciding who to employ, and ensures fairness in the decision making. Really your job spec should make clear whether a qualification ( and at what level) is required, and if a person has this, then decisions are made on other aspects of the interview. Good luck. Peggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 good advice given....good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 I wouldn't worry too much about the NNEB from 1992, my colleague has an NNEB around that time and we are both about to embark on the Foundation Degree. I think attitude and team spirit are very important. Can you observe them during a session, I think I would like to choose somebody that way given the chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 Thanks Deb, thats exactly what we decided to do today. We just couldnt decide between the mum with the NNEB and the lady with the Degree. So we asked one to stay for the monday session and one for the tuesday session. To be honest the mum seemed really keen to be given the opportunity to proove herself, but I got the impression that the degree lady was slightly perturbed by the sitation! Maybe she assumed she would get the job. Its not ideal because we really needed someone to start on a permanent basis on Monday, but my partner and I were going round in circles trying to decide who to take on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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