I’m currently wrestling with a problem in my working life. For financial reasons I’ve had to take on bank work for a couple of local nurseries. I’m qualified in early years so it seemed a sensible way of getting some much needed extra income. Obviously my personal job choices are my own responsibility so I’m not asking for personal job advice, I’m just asking if anyone else has tried working in nurseries and not really enjoyed it? I feel like I should like it as much as I loved working in a preschool but I find myself dreading the days I have to do bank work.
I find with both nurseries the staff don’t seem to particularly enjoy being with children. I see very little children (two) being told off for not painting correctly, for getting a puzzle out that hadn’t been laid out previously, for being too noisy, for not being able to immediately sit down to eat. I’ve even seen a baby being told off for dropping their sippy cup. It all just seems so oppressive and a bit joyless and the expectations of very small children quite unrealistic. The staff can be quite moody and abrupt and obsessive about rules and regulations to unnecessary levels. I know I’m sometimes not the most “on the ball” person, lack confidence and probably deserve to be snapped at now and then (as I have been) but at least I try to enjoy the job and try and make the children’s experience enjoyable. I find the days there very long and I’m on edge, afraid of putting a foot wrong. I never felt that at my old preschool.
I don’t know if it’s just me not gelling with a different approach or whether others have found nurseries quite challenging places to work?