Childcare is not a dumping ground for the unemployable

[UnsolvedMysteriesRobertStack]

AIBU to feel frustrated with the new staff in childcare?

I don’t want to sound harsh, but I’m seeing more and more new staff who are simply not suited for childcare, and I’m wondering if they're being sent here because the job centre is forcing them into work. I'm talking about staff with complex ASD needs, and some who haven’t worked since their early 20s but are now being placed into jobs. There are staff who can't read or write, and they expect to just sit or tidy up all day. My colleagues and I are picking up the slack, feeling understaffed, and having to tiptoe around these situations. It’s never been this bad before.

Some staff won’t touch certain fruits due to sensory issues, can’t read a book, can’t communicate effectively, can’t lift, can’t change nappies, and struggle to talk to parents. And they’re all getting paid the same as the rest of us. I’m just wondering where these people are coming from, as it feels like there’s no industry standard anymore. It makes me feel like my qualifications and experience are being devalued. We’ve been patient, but the burden feels heavier each day.

But surely not in jobs where they are influential to the next generation? Who wants their child being looked after by someone clearly not up for the job. My 2 year old granddaughter brought home a card she'd made in nursery. They'd written 'Happy Farthers Day'!

I could have written this same issue myself.
How can one person sit in the same place for over an hour and watch everyone rush around doing everything?
Step over something instead of picking it up?
Not know what a parsnip is ?
Can't read a full sentence without stopping to try and pronounce a word.
See someone struggle to carry something but not help?
Won't say hello or acknowledge someone's presence?
Can only read a digital clock ?
Not know what an emery board or a wig is ?
And paid the same as me ?

Are they on apprenticeships or is your employer getting paid by DWP to employ these people

First of all PIP is not means tested. You don't have to be unemployed to get it either. It's meant to help people with disabilities pay for things to make their lives as close to healthy people as possible. Secondly, my granddaughter is on PIP she has tried to work a few times but due to having so much time off sick or in hospital she is never kept on for long. She could probably manage a part time job but then her other benefits (UC) would be reduced so much that she couldn't afford to maintain her independence. What is she supposed to do? Her disease is life limiting there is no cure.

This is why I will never leave my child in a nursery.

I think this issue starts with GCSE choices. It's got worse since the NNEB was taken away and nvqs came in. Less academic students are pushed towards doing childcare GCSE because it's seen as an easier option. I don't think that perception has changed much, less academic students are pushed towards childcare or adult care. The people doing that pushing have no idea how demanding those roles are, so you end up with a revolving door of people who are well-meaning but struggle to do the job well. Or who actually don't like children!
For @UnsolvedMysteriesRobertStack are these employees actually apprentices who have been sent to your nursery and they come with funding so it's someone in numbers who is cheap? That might be part of the problem. If not, whoever is doing the hiring needs your supervisor to be honest with them. The real problem is that if you have 5 interviewees and they're all mediocre but you need a body to keep a room ratio right, the best mediocre person is better than no person at all.

The old saying "pay peanuts, get monkeys" spring to mind. Everyone complains about the cost of childcare yet wants high end staff. You can't have it both ways.

"But surely not in jobs where they are influential to the next generation? Who wants their child being looked after by someone clearly not up for the job."

Who wants anyone looked after by someone not up for the job.

But I assume that you wouldn't want to to these jobs, so why would you expect anyone else to?

If no-one want to do them then what is the alternative apart from importing labour and most people don't want that.

Yes Tony Blair has a lot to answer for and also the last few Tory goverments who did not reverse his ridiculous polices, although it would have been difficult putting the genie back in the bottle.

They shouldn't be teaching young children if they aren't suitably qualified.

Yes absolutely this.

Haven't noticed a deterioration in staff at the setting I have been going to for 15 years but staff are more exhausted since Boris put the ratio up and I question more how safe it is for all.

As a previous poster commented "child care, " was on a par with "health and beauty" - not careers for the brightest sparks! It has always been looked down upon.

I have to say I haven't read the whole thread

I blame Tony Blair

I'm a NNEB nursery nurse, this was phased out by him in the 90s and replaced by NVQ.

I loved my job but as the years went on and fewer NNEB nursery nurses were working in nurseries things went drastically downhill

5 years ago a room leader gave a child with a pasta allergy tinned spaghetti thinking it was "the same as tinned beans" She is now manager of that privately run nursery.

Few have understanding of what was once called "behaviour management " which can mean toddler rooms are utterly chaotic and utterly miserable for quieter children

Staff (in my experience) aren't keen to take children outside on cooler days so consequently spend far too much time indoors

And what's with all this hand print art work????

Rant over

I left and set up a small cleaning business, personally I wouldn't send any child to a nursery these days

If you don't have a qualification in childcare, you should not be caring for other people's children for payment.

We all want a few different things don't we? And they're not all compatible.

We want childcare to be as cheap as possible.
But also very high quality.
And also there needs to be lots of childcare places so lots of childcare workers willing to do long hours, stressful work with a smile for minimum wage.
But no one wants to pay more taxes to fully subsidise childcare.
And we definitely don't want to pay out of work benefits.
But we don't want to work with people who might struggle to work...

So should we close half the nurseries? Who is going to care for all those children?

Well said. People want it all. Cheap but quality childcare.

What's wrong with hand print artwork? We are talking about children of 2 and 3 years old, not Year 11 art GCSE students!

Time nursery staff used their imagination, there is alot more you can do at that age

Some can, some can't. Children don't all develop at the same rate.

Hand print product art to create keepsakes for parents is just seen as old fashioned or poor practice now - children don't get much from the experience, there's no learning involved so opportunities for creative art are generally seen as better.

I think there are more worrying points in my post than handprint art work
It was just a passing comment, there are far more important issues happening within daycare

Child rearing has been so devalued in this country, you reap what you sow.

Mumsnet threads on stay at home mums show that for starters.

My daughter only ever wanted to work with children but a friend was horrified when she started her apprenticeship. "I wouldn't let my daughter work in childcare" were her exact words.

Before brexit, nurseries were full of foreign staff - many of them left and who was going to take their places? My daughter's nursery was so short staffed they had to merge rooms and sometimes they had to call parents and tell them they couldn't come in because there weren't enough staff.

She was sure the nursery would close but they managed to turn it round - but they do employ just about anyone who applies and agrees to turn up. They don't take action against lazy staff because it will mean they can't replace them, and my daughter is incensed by some of the late keeping in particular.

We had lots of problems between 1997 and 2010. Brown constantly extending his "economic cycle" over which he had his "golden rule" not to borrow over the full cycle, which he never achieved as he simply borrowed to spend. That was even with selling off a huge proportion of the country's gold reserves. Also "off balance sheet" debt such as the billions of liabilities for schools/hospital PFI contracts which our children and grandchildren will be paying for decades to come. Not to mention hospitals manipulating waiting lists, targets, etc. Brown's tax credits fuelling inflation and housing costs. It was bad back then, but a different kind of bad as the subsequent 14 years.

We've not seen any real growth/improvement in living standards nor the economy over the past 30 years really. Both colours of government have screwed things up, but in different ways.