EYE SUPPLEMENT: Student Spotlight – Patient practice

WHY DID YOU DECIDE THIS PARTICULAR ROUTE IN WORKING IN EARLY YEARS?

I had been at college for some time and realised that it wasn’t really for me. I am more of a practical person and prefer on-the-job learning, whereas I felt like college was more just about writing assignments, which wasn’t for me.

I saw this job come up and I jumped at the opportunity, I knew what I had to do. So, before I applied, I sent an email to the setting manager to express my interest in the role and asked to visit the setting.

I went for a look around to see whether it would be for me. I immediately found the atmosphere so welcoming and everyone was so lovely. I was excited to apply, and when I spoke to the nursery manager I knew it was the right place for me. I had lots of questions and Diane took the time to explain everything and introduced me to the staff.

Starting work here has been the best decision I have ever made, I have just been so happy since I started. I have had to grow up really quickly and learn a lot, but I am really enjoying the challenge.

I have a really good relationship with my tutor who supports me throughout my course and gives me feedback on my work. I think having this positive relationship has really helped me to progress through the course and to achieve what I have so far.

My family supported me so much through this change of me moving from college to an apprenticeship – they encouraged me to grab the opportunity and helped me along the way. I am so grateful for this support from my family – my mam also works with children, so she is a role model to me and gave me a lot of advice when I was applying for this job.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST THING YOU HAVE LEARNT THROUGH THIS EXPERIENCE?

This is very clichéd, but I’d say patience! I am only 17, and dealing with young children has taught me to be very resilient and patient.

When you are at school, you are surrounded by people your own age; once I left school, I had to learn to communicate in totally different ways.

I have had to learn that the children are only young, it is their first time being a toddler and they are learning new skills and developing all of the time. Of course they are going to do things wrong, but you need to have a positive attitude and be patient with them so that they get the best outcome from their day at nursery. Some children need things to be repeated to them several times before they fully understand, and I enjoy taking this time to explain things to them.

You have to learn each and every child’s little traits and personalities, they are all so different and you need to get to know them individually. The staff at Spring Layfield are so good at this!

I have also had to learn to communicate with parents, which I was nervous to do at first, but the team supported me to build my confidence.

So I would definitely say I have developed my patience and resilience. There will be good days and bad days, but this job is my passion and I love it. I would not change my job for the world, I love what I do, which is why I stay here.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER STUDENTS/APPRENTICES CURRENTLY STUDYING OR WORKING IN THE SECTOR?

I would say jump at any opportunity you are given purely because it leads you to so many different routes. I saw that job advert, and if I didn’t go for that I would still have been unhappy in college. You never know what is behind a closed door.

And I’m so glad that I got the opportunity to work here, it’s given me so much more confidence. I was a confident person anyway, but I think once you have a lot of people that are totally different to your age, they help you to grow so much more as a person because you can learn so much from each and every one of them.

I’ve had so many different opportunities and I’ve only been here seven months, but it has been incredible. I have completed several training courses which has really helped expand my knowledge and supported me when writing assignments. Some of the courses are food hygiene, child protection, health and safety and allergy awareness. Soon I will also complete my paediatric first-aid, which I am really looking forward to.

In June, I won an award for Childcare Learner of the Year. I put a lot of effort into my assignments because I am interested in what I am learning and want to do my best.

I take pride in my written work; this takes up a lot of my spare time, but I like to research all of the different topics and make sure that I fully understand the questions.

I do put pressure on myself, but my advice to anyone studying or working in the sector would be to put the effort in, as the rewards are amazing.

There really is nothing else like this job!

WHAT ARE YOUR INTENDED NEXT STEPS AFTER THIS?

I’d still like to work within childcare, hopefully still working here once I qualify, as I love it!

I just want to continue to be growing as a person as well as growing professionally, working my way up to hopefully be a nursery manager like Diane one day or a deputy like Jenny – anything like that would be what I’d intend to do in the future.

I would also be keen to do further qualifications as an apprenticeship. I have had discussions with Diane about different opportunities which are available to me with Spring. It is really good how a job can give you so much and you can specialise in different areas.

Diane also fed back to me that at our recent sports day for the children, she felt I really challenged myself as I had to speak in front of the parents and carry out training sessions with the children. The whole day was a huge success and Diane told me afterwards she felt I had demonstrated some leadership qualities and she was impressed with how I carried out the sessions. I am over the moon with this feedback and it has made me even more determined to progress my career in childcare.

which figures in the sector do you find most inspiring and why?

So I would definitely say my deputy manager Jenny – she has been incredible since the day I started. She is so helpful and no question is a silly question. She is always there supporting me, and if I have any queries she is straight there to help me. She explains things in a step-by-step way because she knows this is how I learn best.

She supports me with my written work if I ask her for help and always gives me time to talk things through even when she is very busy.

I love watching Jenny with the children, she has brilliant ideas for young children and makes learning so much fun!

I also find Diane, my manager, inspiring, she is so easy to talk to and she isn’t scary at all!

I found this very different to my experience at college, which was very formal. Diane is strict when she needs to be but I always feel like I can go to her. She is always very professional and approachable.

I think all of my colleagues are inspiring. They are like one big family, and we have a laugh sometimes, which is important when we are at work every day.