Why I Can't Find New Staff!

[Guest]

I'm manager of a pre-school, we have been trying to fill a position at the pre-school since september, we advertised, interviewed loads of applicants, offered the job to someone, they said they would like it, had to give a months notice due to start first day back after xmas, she phoned me two days before and said she would rather go and work full time in private day care, so we readvertised, took on someone else, they gave months notice was due to start today but they phoned me Tuesday and said she wasn't feeling to good and the stress of working with small children would make her condition worse so she wouldn't be starting. I'm now back to where i started in September, the staff i have are not happy at being asked to cover for such a long time and are all getting stressed, as there are only 5 of us, covering morning and afternoon sessions. I'm working all sessions, managing the pre-school, doing all paperwork, planning, waiting list etc plus senco - as member of staff that left last summer was our senco. We also have a child with behaviour difficulties, so SENCO position is quite full on, i have just managed to get SENRAP funding but now have no one to do the one to one with the child during session. At the moment i just feel like my whole life revolves arouund the pre-school and i'm just going round in circles, why doesn't anybody want a job in a committee run pre-school anymore. Sorry for moaning but i just needed to let off a bit of steam.

[Inge]

Usually lack of money for responsibility and amount of work involved!!

 

In this case we often find a parent who is willing to cover some of the shifts particularly when tried and failed to fill a post. Sometimes just someone to cover a few shifts helps relieve some of the pressure.

 

we also had an apprentice from the local college, may be worth exploring this, she turned out to be excellent and now a member of staff. in our case the college paid her and while she worked for us for 16 hours a week for a year. she did not get much money from college but found it a better way of learning than doing the college based with placements route, we had a CRB done and an extra member of staff.

 

Some of the best staff have come from parents who want something to fit in around school days, and holidays etc. I have been lucky and not had staff leave for 4 years now, dreading the time when we need to recruit again.

 

Inge

[beth1]

Aww what bad luck you are having. I would work in a pre school playgroup but I cannot find the right amount of hours as I need to fit it around college and most of my preschools only run half days or on the day I need off.

 

Keep postive you will find someone soon.

 

 

Beth

[Guest]

Sorry to hear that you have been let down again, trying to be positive at least these people didn't start, go through the whole induction process and then decide to leave.

 

How do you advertise?

 

I am needing a new member of staff, but I have a problem where summer term is really busy then come September my numbers fall so low I need less staff.

 

Last september I had to make two redundancies, this left just myself and daughter ( working 5 days a week) and a supply cover for if we have training or meetings etc. I do paperwork, business admin etc at night.

I have got extra responsibilities with our foster children so have used the supply cover quite a bit.

After half term my daughter said she couldn't cope 5 days a week, and wanted 2 days off, so now my supply works at least 3 full days. She asked for a permanent position last september, now she's had a few weeks of working 3/4 days a week she now says she only wants 1 or 2 days.

 

I have definately found that working 5 days ( plus nights has made me very tired.

 

I can understand how your staff feel, continually covering tends to demorolise and make everyone feel more tired than usual.

 

Good advice about getting parents in, or could committee members work out a rota of shared cover until a new person can be found?

 

Hope it all sorts itself out soon, good luck.

 

Peggy

 

p.s. Hope the fact you could have a moan eased the pressure, even if for just a little while.

[hali]

sorry you are having trouble ...good luck

[Guest]

Thanks for all your replies. I have asked the parents and put a notice up asking for help, my committee all have babies or are pregnant at the moment.

I advertise with surestart, at the job centre and i put a notice up in the pre-school window.

I have one student at the moment but she seems to turn up when she wants to, she is suppose to be in on a thurs and frid morning, in the last 6 weeks she has been in twice. maybe i'll have more luck with another one from the college.

Thanks for all your replies, hopefully something will work itself out in the end.

[Guest Wolfie]

Just as a matter of interest, what does SENRAP stand for?

[Sue R]

Good question!! ?

 

Sue

[Alison]

its a difficult task Simcity we seem to operate on a perminant skeleton staff but we did manage to get a volunteer parent who wanted to do her NVQ 2 so we are lucky that we have got a spare pair of hands available at the moment

 

maybe a mature student might be an option for the short term? contact the local colleges and see if they need placements for their NVQ3 students, in theory they will hopefully already have level 2 and some understanding of what working in a preschool involves (if they are any good you might be able to offer one a job?)

[Guest]

It also seems to me that you are doing too much yourself, in our pre-school the committee used to run admissions, and do some of the management tasks, then we employeed an administrator, who now does admissions, wages, arranges CRB checks and generally spreading the load. I presume that when you say paperwork, you don't mean that you fill out all of the profiles, but that eah keyworker does them for their own children.

 

I can understand why people would wish more stability than a committee run pre-school gives, most of our staf are former parents, who loved doing their parent rota's so much that they jumped at the chance to work while their children are in school, and have school holidays off.

 

The problem with just a parent volunteer is of course that they, unlike the committee will not have been CRB checked. That said someone keen to do that might expand to becoming a staff member once their child moves on to school.

[Guest]

I know what you mean.....I work in a pdn and we are having great difficulty even getting people to apply for jobs. Since January Staff are having to work longer hours, very difficult to find time to do paperwork or find time for staff meetings, having to cancel places on courses which we would dearly love to attend. And haven't personally been able to take any owed holiday.

We've advertised through our local Early Years and so we're on their web site, placed ads in colleges and in shop windows - funds don't really stretch to ads in papers - but if you say they really work, I'l persuade owners to give it a try.

 

It is a lovely family run nursery set within 4 acres of grounds we specify interest in outdoors and nature as we are big on outdoor play, growing food and generally having fun with the children whilst they learn.....what's so uninteresting about that?....sorry turning into an ad..but DESPERATE to fill places.

 

Hot tops on finding staff would be MUCH appreciated.

[beth1]

Umm and I am the one who cannot find jobs up in west yorkshire most of the time. Shame you don't live up in West Yorkshire some of us are crying out for a job, saying that I am the one who has to find a job that fits around college course on Thursdays.

 

Sam your nursery sounds nice, sorry not hot tips on how to find nursery nurses.

 

Good luck guys.

 

 

Beth

[Alison]

Beth its a shame you dont live nearer we dont open thursdays!

[Guest]

Oh simcity I sympathise I have been in the same boat since September. interview over the holiday employed a SENCO and young girl with NVQ2. the SENCO TEXT me the sunday night before we were due to start on the monday of new term and had decided it wasn't for her. the young girl did 2 weeks and wouldn't move anything because she "forgot" to tell me she had a bad back. (she had come from a nursery and didn't realise how much putting out there was)

Interviewed again took on another SENCO who had worked in a school and an older single lady. The SENCO lasted 2 weeks and decided "it wasn't for her" half way through the third week, left books and uniform in a box outseide the door on the Wednesday. The other girl had a long distance to travel and now after 4 months can't afford the petrol to travel. We will so miss her as she really fitted in well. So I am back to suare 1 advertising again. have had some awfull people come for interviews, that I wouldn't hav left a mouse with let alone work with children. We have been beginning to despair that it was us as a team that were awfull, but have been told by other colleagues that its just a bad time!!!!!

I am so fed up of asking if they have qualifications and then being told no but "I like looking after children" All the good ones have had so far to travel it wasn't worth it for them.

Still have interviews next week of 3 hopefulls. should have done one interview today but their child was ill.

Hope its not an omen for the future.

Good luck they must be out there somewhere!!!!!