To ask if you’ve ever worked in childcare?

[SunnyDays199]

If so…. How was it? Pros and cons? I’m considering studying my level 3 and going back to college after raising my own DC so looking for opinions. Thanks!

Generally ?

Over worked and underpaid.

Pros: I had hours that fit around school, the children, creating fun activities.

Cons: low pay, high staff turnover, incompetent staff, no progression, sometimes toxic environment, after a while constantly being dirty and sitting on floors or tiny chairs got to me.

I miss the children a lot but I’d never go back. No regrets though, it worked well for me at the time and has led to other things.

It will be a fantastic job if you get the right nursery. It's long hours and minimum wage but absolutely worth it.

Be prepared for your job constantly being belittled by people. People are unbelievably derogatory about it and won't hesitate in telling you do, especially some people on here.

It can be great, in the right setting. I wouldn't do private nursaries (long hours poor pay) but I've been 20 years in Special Needs Early years (and older ones up to 16) and still love the kids.
Exhausting.. yes... grim.. frequently (we have poo smearers, biters etc) but it's never boring, and seeing children with severe difficulties make progress is still exciting and building relationships with the children is always lovely.

But I'm poor, and my back is knackered and my clothes regularly get covered in paint, glue and worse!!

Depends where you work and you will need level 5 to make decent money

Not strictly true about the level 5.

Everyone upto level 5 where I've worked and where I am now is paid the same, in fact, so are the level 6 staff. The only ones paid more are room leaders, deputy and manager.

Everyone is paid the same for fairness, even if the pay is crap.

Yes. but if you want to go into management and therefore make 30k plus you will need level 5

It was all cons for me! Long hours, limited breaks, intellectually unstimulating/boring and physically hard on the body.

Overworked and underpaid and under appreciated!

If I could go back I’d enjoy becoming an early years teacher, rather than a generic nursery nurse.

Generally very low pay and long hours.

For me it depends on the nursery:

1st nursery (private) was lovely, management were great, as were children but pay was ridiculously low.
2nd nursery (private) was a shit show over worked, underpaid, not appreciated, spoken to like shit, understaffed., huge staff turnover. Not supported. Alll staff were very young, imo not experienced or mature enough for the job responsibility of the job.
3rd nursery(LA) perfect hours, pay is great (full time between 28k & 32k) supportive nursery teacher, staff turnover low, better holidays and sick pay, more training. A big range of ages in the staff team which is a bonus.

I went to college in my 40s to retrain and don’t regret it for a minute.

some people still say we are underpaid but 3 years ago I was on £9.30 and hour and no in £16.25 an hour. But I think it’s a good rate of pay.

In general, the kids are lovely. The parents are an absolute nightmare.

Biggest con for me was the other staff members. It attracts young girls , little to no experience and easily becomes a very bitchy hostile environment.

no thank you

Although I wanted to add to that , sometimes the older the staff members the bitchier they become!

From someone who has recently left childcare after 17 years, it's a big fat resounding no from me, I'm afraid.

Crap pay no progression long hours. Pro is the children although the behaviour of some are awful and parents don’t seem to care.

I loved seeing the kids develop and get excited about new things, generally parents were nice and the staff worked well.
But long hours, low pay, some parents will have ridiculous expectations of what you can do, lots of things to update on the tablet (multiple times a day). And my back is in an awful state.
I had to give up for family reasons but I miss it so much. If you have a genuine passion for it you won't care about the bad bits.

I honestly wouldn’t recommend it to my worst enemy.
A school nursery is always preferred because the pay and working conditions are better and there is a hierarchy of management to deal with nightmare parents. However ratios are higher.
Please don’t go into it thinking you’re going to be with dear, sweet little children; you won’t be sadly. It’s a very undervalued job and incredibly hard work . Mentally draining and exhausting.

If you have a genuine passion for it you won't care about the bad bits

Have to strongly disagree there. The bad bits gave me a crippling anxiety disorder that I have to deal with for the rest of my life.

My friend like the:

1. Autonomy (she has her own room so decides what they do each day)
2. Creativity, crafts etc
3. Not being stuck on a computer but it's not too manual a job (no babies in her room)
4. Mon - Fri, no weekends, bank hols off, close at Christmas
5. Management deal with the parents, payments, subsidies etc

Doesn't like:
Pay is just OK, not wonderful (in Ireland)
She's had one or 2 kids she fully expects to see in the news one day, not in a good way

I did it for four years

• my shifts were flexible/short shifts/part-time
• not hard work particularly but longer shifts would have felt it more
• most team colleagues were nice
• kids were often sweet/parents grateful

On the other hand

• the pay was minimum wage
• the job can get boring/tedious/monotonous (nappies/feeding/play/repeat)
• you get the occasional colleague you seem to do more for
• some kids more challenging (separation anxiety/teething/tired/sick)

It all comes down to the setting and your team I think. And of course, whether you like young children and babies.
Also, more emphasis in the UK on early learning goals, OFSTED? (I wasn't in the UK so safeguarding and the setting's pedagogy aside, had no extra admin in that way).

Again, not strictly true. You need at least level 3 to be a Manager. Again, the pay is for the role not the qualification.

Thanks everyone. This has given me a lot to think about!

I was a childminder for 10 years. I changed career when my children started Secondary school and I found balancing the needs of my mindees and my own older children too tricky. One of my children has SEN which made the balancing act harder than average.

The pros;

I could decide my own work hours, although this was also partly dependent on the families I was working with requirements.

I enjoyed the work and mostly really liked the children and families I worked with.

If you look after several children at the same time the earnings potential is good.

The cons;

It does somewhat take over your home. I was delighted to finally get rid of things like high chairs and stair gates when I finished.

The paperwork was a bit tedious but not impossible.

I think being a childminder is a good occupation. If my children were younger I'd happily continue with it.

I am level 3 qualified.