to ask why wouldn't a private nursery give my sister a volentary work

[McHappyPants2012]

I offered to pay for her CRB check and it would only be during school hoildays.

She has just turned 16 years old and going to sit her gcse soon, she wanted to do some work experience in a nursery as she wants to work with children.

is there any reason, why they would decline this offer

Perhaps they only take over 18s

Perhaps they are really busy and don't have the time and resources to cope with and train a volunteer.

Sorry she's been disappointed, but actually giving volunteers an effective placement is hard work.

Could be to do with their liability insurance maybe?

Insurance is usually the reason.

No the nursery i work at would be grateful for the extra help, would have to be crb checked and would never be left alone with the children and would write her a reference at the end.
I cant see why any nursery wouldnt.

Also, I can imagine that some parents may take umbrage at 'untrained' workers dealing with their children

ok thanks.

is this standard. I have told her not to worry just concentrate on her gcse, but she want to phone a few more nurseries. If this is the case i don't want her to waste her time ( and my phone bill)

they haven't got the staff to support her in her voluntary work maybe? It's got to be something where both parties benefits from the experience.

Can she approach some others?

Dd has just done some at ours. Her and a friend.

TBH they are private business - perhaps if she asked for work experience instead.

Or if she asked the nursery she applied to why they declined rather than us second guessing their reasons?

Do you have any local libraries near you that offer things like a story time? Maybe she could see if she could volunteer to help with something like that. I know it's not the same but thanks to Shiny Dave's cuts a lot of those kind of things are being axed as staff can't cover it so they look for volunteers.

Might it be worth her speaking to a local Children's Centre as well, if you have one local to you? They may wel know of volunteering opportunities

not nursery but I hate being assigned the work placement kid i really dont have the time to do my job and supervise/redo the work ive given them

If her school offers a childcare course it may be worth speaking to the course coordinator. Even if your daughter isn't following the course herself the coordinator may have some useful contacts.

DH works in a nursery and he says that his nursery would welcome a 16 year old volunteer and so would most of the other nurseries he has worked at.

My boss at my old nursery used to take work experience students, but tbh it was a pain in the butt for the rest of us. We had to supervise them, explain what we were doing, it was usually easier to just do what needed to be done than to try and explain.

Lots of nurseries will take WE, although possibly not as many private ones. It's usually about insurance and admin if they won't.

I am in charge of induction at our school and get at least 4-5 requests a week from people wanting to volunteer/ gain work experience. As lovely as it is to have an extra pair of hands it is just not always possible to have everyone that wants to volunteer in. It requires a lot of time to induct each volunteer, it can disrupt routines and to be fair some are a lot more trouble than they are help. Having said that though we do try to help as many as possible to get the experience they need so don't give up hope perhaps try elsewhere.

If they're a profit-making enterprise they can't legally offer her unpaid voluntary work experience unless it is part of a recognised course. She would be entitled to National Minimum Wage and the exemption in the NMW legislation for voluntary workers only applies to charities and other not for profit/ publicly funded organisations.

I think there's probably a multitude of reasons, inc. those already given above (insurance/ time/ paying parents being miffed about untrained people working at the nursery)

they never gave her a reason, just said sorry but not at this time.

like the idea of story time in the library.

Can I suggest a friedly e-mail over a phone call can be helpful- I know as a class teacher I am far better at dealing with these as can do in my own time rather than trying to chase phonecalls etc during the day when I am trying to teach, could be the same when they have children in the nursery. Good on her for trying to get the experience, I hope she gets something sorted.

Most BTEC and GNVQ courses involve placements,nurseries get paid to take students, this is making voluntary work more difficult to get in some areas.

If she is applying for BTEC in September she will not need experience,
to get on to the course. It can be difficult to get voluntary work whilst under 18in some settings. I would look to church groups or charity providers.

Children Centres are statutory and take volunteers through a "bank" contact your local centre and ask what provider the Local Authority use for volunteers.

I would tell her not to worry, though. There is plenty of time togain practical experience, she needs her grades for now.

My daughter is in nursery, and tbh I wouldn't want them to take many WE people. It's not about them being untrained - the staff are trained, so I know there'd be no issue there. But nursery is my daughter's home from home and for her 4 long days a week there, I want it to be a place where she consistently knows the staff - and they know her.
There are people on placements sometimes, and there is staff turnover too, I accept that. The occasional WE person wouldn't bother me. But as a parent, I don't want my daughter to have a high turnover of people coming in for short bursts. It's a big deal for me to entrust her care to the nursery - I don't want any more people in and out around her than necessary.
That's totally a selfish point of view, and I hope your sister finds somewhere - but I thought I'd share as it could be behind a nursery's thinking in refusing. It's not about training for me - I wouldn't want NVQ4s coming in and out of her life too frequently.