Nazma asked 7 years ago
I have had a break to bring up my children and would like to change my career and work in a nursery. What qualifications do I need?
Riverside Cares Staff answered 7 years ago
Thank you for your question which will be answered by Jill Wheatcroft
Hi Nazma,
To become a professional child carer you would need to successfully gain relevant child care qualifications. You have a number of options which will depend upon where you want to work i.e. what type of setting and with what age range of children. Also you need to consider your potential academic ability.
A good starting point is a Level 2 qualification this allows you to work with children in an Early Years setting, for example Level 2 Certificate in an Introduction to Early Years Education and Care. This level of qualification enables you to work with other childcarers, looking after children, in a nursery. It will not enable you to hold a senior role and be left alone with children in an Early Years setting – for that you would need to gain a Level 3 qualification.
If you would like to become a child minder i.e. open a childminding business we recommend you contact your local borough and check the level of qualification required alongside Paediatric First Aid etc
If you have seen jobs as an Early Years Educator, the interviewers will expect you to have successfully undertaken a Level 3 qualification.
As an overarching recommendation we suggest you work towards achieving a Level 3 qualification because it gives you in depth underpinning knowledge and ultimately it means that you will at a later stage be able apply for a wider group of roles and at a higher level. Many people start with Level 2 and go on to complete Level 3 which is an excellent solution if you have not studied for an extended period.
Riverside Cares is an accredited training centre offering a wide range of qualifications supported by an easily contactable team available to advise you at about the best route to training for your needs. Our offices are close to Canary Whalf however we do offer training across most London post codes and parts of Essex and Kent. Here are a sample of two courses we offer:
http://www.riversidetrainingcompany.co.uk/product/cache-level-2-certificate-in-an-introduction-to-early-years-education-and-care-qcf/
http://www.riversidetrainingcompany.co.uk/product/level-3-diploma-for-the-early-years-workforce-early-years-educator-qcf/
http://www.riversidetrainingcompany.co.uk/product/level-3-diploma-for-the-early-years-workforce-early-years-educator-qcf/
If after exploring options you decide that you would prefer to carry out a home based role this is an excellent course to consider:
http://www.riversidetrainingcompany.co.uk/product/cache-level-3-award-in-preparing-to-work-in-home-based-care-qcf/
Often people tip their toe into the water of returning to study and with that in mind we can offer some part and full day courses such as Introduction to Nannying Common Core Skills or Safeguarding
Hope this helps we have loads more advice we can give so do feel free to drop us a line to info@riversidecares.co.uk
Regards
Jill Wheatcroft
Jill is co-founder of Riverside Cares and Director of Training, she accepts clients for one-to-one consultancy.
Visit our Parenting Hub http://www.riversidecares.co.uk/parenting-hub/ for sessions, suggestions, opportunities to learn paediatric first aid life saving skills and our events page http://www.riversidecares.co.uk/events/ for pop ups and know how sessions around London. Riverside Cares trains professional childcarers and supplies at home care and nursery staff to early years settings
Join us on April 20 at Stepney City Farm for a very special morning (info on our events page)
Thanks and Kind regards,
Jill Wheatcroft
Co MD Riverside Cares
Riverside Cares Staff answered 7 years ago
Thank you for your question which will be answered by Jill Wheatcroft
Hi Nazma,
To become a professional child carer you would need to successfully gain relevant child care qualifications. You have a number of options which will depend upon where you want to work i.e. what type of setting and with what age range of children. Also you need to consider your potential academic ability.
A good starting point is a Level 2 qualification this allows you to work with children in an Early Years setting, for example Level 2 Certificate in an Introduction to Early Years Education and Care. This level of qualification enables you to work with other childcarers, looking after children, in a nursery. It will not enable you to hold a senior role and be left alone with children in an Early Years setting – for that you would need to gain a Level 3 qualification.
If you would like to become a child minder i.e. open a childminding business we recommend you contact your local borough and check the level of qualification required alongside Paediatric First Aid etc
If you have seen jobs as an Early Years Educator, the interviewers will expect you to have successfully undertaken a Level 3 qualification.
As an overarching recommendation we suggest you work towards achieving a Level 3 qualification because it gives you in depth underpinning knowledge and ultimately it means that you will at a later stage be able apply for a wider group of roles and at a higher level. Many people start with Level 2 and go on to complete Level 3 which is an excellent solution if you have not studied for an extended period.
Riverside Cares is an accredited training centre offering a wide range of qualifications supported by an easily contactable team available to advise you at about the best route to training for your needs. Our offices are close to Canary Whalf however we do offer training across most London post codes and parts of Essex and Kent. Here are a sample of two courses we offer:
http://www.riversidetrainingcompany.co.uk/product/cache-level-2-certificate-in-an-introduction-to-early-years-education-and-care-qcf/
http://www.riversidetrainingcompany.co.uk/product/level-3-diploma-for-the-early-years-workforce-early-years-educator-qcf/
http://www.riversidetrainingcompany.co.uk/product/level-3-diploma-for-the-early-years-workforce-early-years-educator-qcf/
If after exploring options you decide that you would prefer to carry out a home based role this is an excellent course to consider:
http://www.riversidetrainingcompany.co.uk/product/cache-level-3-award-in-preparing-to-work-in-home-based-care-qcf/
Often people tip their toe into the water of returning to study and with that in mind we can offer some part and full day courses such as Introduction to Nannying Common Core Skills or Safeguarding
Hope this helps we have loads more advice we can give so do feel free to drop us a line to info@riversidecares.co.uk
Regards
Jill Wheatcroft
Jill is co-founder of Riverside Cares and Director of Training, she accepts clients for one-to-one consultancy.
Visit our Parenting Hub http://www.riversidecares.co.uk/parenting-hub/ for sessions, suggestions, opportunities to learn paediatric first aid life saving skills and our events page http://www.riversidecares.co.uk/events/ for pop ups and know how sessions around London. Riverside Cares trains professional childcarers and supplies at home care and nursery staff to early years settings
Join us on April 20 at Stepney City Farm for a very special morning (info on our events page)
Thanks and Kind regards,
Jill Wheatcroft
Co MD Riverside Cares