Childcare is not a dumping ground for the unemployable

I have so much respect for the people who work at my child’s nursery. They are caring, proactive and extremely hardworking. But I only interact with certain ones in the room so I suppose some of the others in the room I never talk to could fit this profile.

Yep, very good point!

People complain about unemployment however this is what happens when people are forced into work without proper support - they end up in jobs which are entirely unsuitable.

In this case potentially causing safeguarding issues to vulnerable members of our society (children, the elderly etc).

Is this really what we want?

I have been looking to go back to work after being at home with my children for years. When I look at job adverts for nurseries they always state must have nvq qualifications and prior experience. Are you thinking these nurseries can’t get qualified staff so are just employing anyone? Perhaps I should consider applying!

Dont you need a childcare qualification to work in childcare? Like level 2 or level 3 most nurseries round here ask for. So how can they not read?

I dont think not working since their early twenties is the end of the world maybe they had kids. Are they supposed to stay out of work forever?

Exactly

I don’t think @TomatoSandwiches meant it literally!

Very similar situation Here suppose. Care for the most vulnerable in our country in crisis. The young and the old deserve so much more.

Oh shut up. OP is highlighting a problem with staff that care for children which impacts the care they’re given. Lazy scroungers can still work and do a very poor and damaging job, as she’s saying here. Please don’t imply that people are better on benefits than being given skills and purpose.

Having worked in the sector, do you think nurseries are trying to employ the bare minimum of level 3s and fill up with unqualified staff as they are cheaper?

I thought you had to have qualifications to work in childcare? My daughter is going to college in September to do a level 2 qualification, then go on to do a further qualification, she will have a placement 2 days a week in a nursery, are these people doing the same thing as her? Or not even in college?

A girl in my daughter’s year at school has been extremely disruptive for 4 years of high school, and I know via parents from the primary school she went to was the same throughout primary. She has had multiple suspensions, has a complete aversion to authority or being told what to do, comes in drunk or stoned, fights, threatens people on social media etc. In my day she would have long been expelled but that’s not the way of things these days, particularly in Scotland. She’s leaving school after her Nat 5s (GCSE equivalent) which have just started and is going to college to do a childcare course. HOW?!?

I’ve worked in education in London for 30 years, and whilst there are some fantastic nursery staff, I agree with the OP that there are lots who are not great.
I think there are 2 main reasons for this.
firstly, the qualification needed has been downgraded. Years ago nursery nurses (as they were called at the time) needed an NNEB qualification. This was a full time 2 years qualification which was focussed on child development and placements and prepared them really well for the workplace. The NVQ levels that came after were not of the same quality and I always felt never gave those that achieved them the same sense of professional pride.
Secondly, the pay and conditions are poor and you can get more money in London with better and more flexible working conditions, and a lot less hassle. Some parents can be very demanding, the constant threat of Ofsted and the financial pressures on nurseries mean many choose jobs like me retail were pay is often better!

So people want those with disabilities in work but also not at their place of work 🤔

@ffsfindmeausername McDonald's are actually one of the best for mums who needs a flexible job. Not as many teenagers work there now. I suspect with that attitude your DD wouldn't even get a job there.

She sounds lovely. Not. Tell her to stop being a snob towards people who work in these places.

Well you can go onto the government website and lodge your objections to the proposed benefits changes that way they can stay on benefits and you can get proper staff

To be honest this hasn’t been my
experience. I’ve used two nurseries/pre schools (in south west). Both had amazing staff, really knowledgeable. I very much doubt any of them were academic high fliers but who cares when they’re looking after 3 year olds. They were kind, caring and easy to speak to. I suspect they were on very low salaries which I feel is unfair. They worked really hard.

As someone who has a chronic health condition I know I'd struggle in a nursery setting. I'd have a couple of good days, then need days to recover. Then the cycle would continue.

I feel like people with disabilities can't win.
I get the whole "well you can type well so you could work from home, answer a phone" etc. On bad days I can't pick up a phone, I can't spell, I can't dress myself, can't prepare food and forget words due to having a stroke. I've been told time and time again this will improve with time, you are young. It's frustrating. I have to depend on others, it's not fun, it's a living hell.

It has been hair or care since the 90’s. We have low expectations of people and view these jobs as easy. They aren’t easy at all.

Nurseries do not pay enough for the qualifications and workload they require. As in every female-dominated sector. Decent people are walking away and leaving the dregs, it’s the same in education.

I also find it really frustrating is that people without qualifications and who are unable to manage the required workload are now being hired. Amazing isn’t it that the workload etc doesn’t matter for a favoured few. Those of us who try hardest are being treated extraordinarily badly.

I was only thinking the other day how brilliant a few staff members are at dcs nursery compared to the others who just seem disinterested and lacking the personality needed to work with children. In the baby room there is a bubbly girl who just lights up the room , you can tell she loves her job and the dc adore her. The others are quiet and appear to have no interest in interacting with the dc. Dc are, in turn , standoffish going to them. It's just a job to them. It's disappointing that the sector is so understaffed that practically anyone can get a job. They should at least show some bit of an interest in working with dc.

It must be so frustrating for you to deal with as a hard working staff member , seeing others get paid the same as you for doing half the work. Not fair at all. I'd like to say thank you on behalf of parents. We see you, the ones who stand out 🌟

You’re not wrong OP. It definitely takes a certain sort of person to do the job properly and well. I actually wanted to be a nursery nurse as a teenager until I found out how low the pay is. Still think it would have been my dream job other than that. And sometimes wish I’d done it anyway! I worked as a carer in my uni holidays as well and loved that too. I’d work as a nursery nurse or carer at the drop of a hat if the salary was halfway decent. I think the problem is that in the U.K. these are seen as jobs people can do with very little in the way of qualifications. I believe it’s very different in eg Scandinavia.

Wtf has this got to do with the thread. Your post is highly discriminatory

Also the appalling salaries keep out lots of people.

I think also it does give the message that the profession is low value /status

Sadly, this was happening too in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

All the less able were funnelled into care courses. At a special needs school I worked in the more able students with LD were funnelled into nursery /care home work.

No one who took any O levels (the 20 per cent brightest) that I knew of, did any care courses. (although the brighter people went into nursing).

It's very different in mainland Europe where many nurseries require uni level certification.