AIBU to think alot of people dont see being a nursery nurse as a career?!

[stoppinchingthedummy]

Hi all

I only ask as i am a nursery nurse- i love my job , i started when i was 17 unqualified and worked hard to become qualified,gained experience ,had my own children and still love the job!! However lots of people ask me if id like a career when my dc are older... I would love to become a midwife so yes i would BUT isnt being a nursery worker a career?? I would just like some views please :)

I think people are being a bit harsh to the OP. I think she is just frustrated at the way a lot of people think of NNS. (eg thick, couldnt do anything better, if they werent doing this could only do checkout at Mcdonalds etc). That is a common view held by a lot of people. Nowadays it isnt true at all and many people in childcare are graduates. It isnt just looking after children and can be a complex role. We cater for children with Engliah as a second language, speech and language development problems, developmental delay and most are complex refferals from SS. It might be paid low but it is nothing like working in a shop or as a waitress.

It's a very important job and a very valuable one for those with children. I think there is dreadful attitude in the UK of looking down noses at people who don't do jobs that need Level 3/4 qualifications. There are lots of people who should be much better respected because their work is essential, they are working, they are responsible and they are contributing to society: bin men, hairdressers, plumbers, electricians, care workers, retail workers, hotel, restaurant and catering staff, cleaners. Odd thing is, in my experience, it's people like my MIL who are from working class backgrounds but who have done well by becoming teachers, etc, who seem to do most of the looking down.

Certainly a nursery nurse can be taking the first steps on a long ladder, either to one day owning a nursery or to taking more qualifications and becoming equipped to teach early years or even to switch sideways into nursing or social work. A nursery nurse is blessed from an early age with having to deal with a great many people with different expectations, sometimes awkward ones which will provide invaluable life experience later on.

LadyTremaine Sun 30-Jan-11 16:43:45
If you work in a nursery with a level 2, and are studying, are you considered a nursery nurse? out of interest cause we have a few like that at nephews nursery, they call themselves NNs.

Round here you are most definately considered a nursery nurse. It drives me mad tbh because L2's have quite a lot less training than L3's and yet get to have the same title and in some cases, similar pay (I am a disssertation away from BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies and EYPS, am on £6 per hour and my colleague, L2 is on the same money).

noodle69 Mon 31-Jan-11 06:39:25
I think people are being a bit harsh to the OP. I think she is just frustrated at the way a lot of people think of NNS. (eg thick, couldnt do anything better, if they werent doing this could only do checkout at Mcdonalds etc). That is a common view held by a lot of people. Nowadays it isnt true at all and many people in childcare are graduates. It isnt just looking after children and can be a complex role. We cater for children with Engliah as a second language, speech and language development problems, developmental delay and most are complex refferals from SS. It might be paid low but it is nothing like working in a shop or as a waitress.

Agree.

There are more than a few extremely dim nursery workers. I've worked with them. You tend to get them in nurseries that value money more that quality of which there are plenty. Many of them are qualified up to NVQ level 3, which is why you can't really trust that qualification.
Can you live independently on the salary of a nursery nurse? Not where I am, therefore I don't consider it a 'career job', but a step towards being deputy or manager which are.

That's where I think nurseries and staff are at the moment. Some nurseries are good and some are bad. Some staff are good and some are bad. I believe all childcare should be great quality with passionate, knowledgeable and caring staff. It's wrong to expect staff to work for as little as they do, with as much responsibility as they do for as little as £12,000 a year. Many fantastic staff decide they can't afford to work in childcare. The country as a whole gets the standard of childcare it pays for. Low.

And before somebody says I don't value nursery staff, I value good staff.

I am a Childminder and I consider it a career 100% Why?
Because I am trained in my field, I consider it to be a long term occupation working towards higher qualifications and because, most importantly, I run a professional service. Of course it is a career - there are many opportunities to professionally develop.

I'd like to defend the young girls who work in nurseries. My DD's nursery is great (so great that I've practically begged them for a job there and have been going in as a volunteer helper on my afternoon off for the past 5 months) and the staff are almost all 'girls' - even the room supervisor only just turned 20 last week, but I can't fault them, and nor can Ofsted. Yes, they've had a few girls come who obviously weren't committed but they soon left again.

As for it being a career, as others have said, now that all childcare providers are registered with Ofsted, the activities provided have to be rigorously planned and accounted for, with children's progression clearly planned. No different to teaching in a school nursery or reception class. I have a degree in primary education and currently work as a creche assistant, along with a number of other graduates. Our employer won't even consider anyone without a degree for what is basically an entry-level position. The nature of and requirements for childcare has changed immensely.

And when you think of the huge responsibility the position entails, I don't think anyone should be dismissive of any childcare roles.

A quick google of 'careers advice' and the first website that came up was direct.gov.uk. - 'Next step Careers Advice' On the front page is a feature 'want to be a childminder'...

So childcare isn't a career, it's just a job?

Dictionary definition of 'career':

an occupation or profession, esp. one requiring special training, followed as one's lifework

Doesn't say anything about progressing through the ranks, only that you train then pursue it for life. Just as the OP has.

dictionary.reference.com/browse/career

Can you live independently on the salary of a nursery nurse?

Just about I'd say. Though if they switched to being a nanny, they would get paid several thousand more and thus could then live independently on the salary.

How do I know this... because it's what I do. Though I do have to admit to having brought my flat 11 years ago when I did another job, thus got a mortgage. Not sure it would be so easy to get a mortgage these days on the salary. Least not on the Surrey/Berkshire border.

I just wanted to say that the main reasons that I chose the nursery I did for my dd was the experience of the staff.

I did see several where 2 teenagers (or not much older), only one of which was qualified, where in a room with 6 babies.