Frequently Asked Questions

Becoming a Childminder - Careers Questions

What are the main occupations of working with children?

There are a number of different roles working in education, childcare and play work.  Also in a number of different settings and age ranges:

• Childminders - age range: 0-11 + years, in the home
   
• Pre School Leaders - age range: 2-5 years, group setting
   
• Pre School Workers - age range: 2-5 years, group setting
   
• Early Years Care and Education Workers - age range: 0-5 years
   
• Nursery Assistants - age range: 0-5 years, group setting
   
• Learning Support Assistants - age range:3-16 years, schools
   
• Classroom Assistants - age range: 3-16 years, schools
   
• Senior Play worker - age range: 3-11 years, group setting
   
• Play Worker - age range 3-11 years, group setting

Do I need a qualification?

• For some roles you will need to have a formal qualification. For example to be a Nursery Manager Pre School Leader or Manager of an Out of School club you will need a NVQ 3 qualification in childcare / play work.
   
• No formal qualifications are needed if you are employed at a assistant level. If you wish to progress to more senior roles then you will have to undertake training.
   
• To work as a childminder you will need to undertake an introduction to Childminding Practice course.

What are the Qualifications?

There are qualifications, which are specific to early years care and education or play work and these are available at different levels:

• Level 2 Qualification for people working with supervision
   
• Level 3 qualification is for people who work under their own initiative planning and organising their workloads
   
• Level 4 is for experienced practitioners who carry out complex and non-routine tasks for those in a managerial role.
   
• Further details of qualification courses

Do I have to go to college to get a qualification?

No - there are 2 main ways to get a qualification:

• You can go to college and get a qualification to work with children. Most full time courses are for a fixed length of time and you would have to attend placements in a childcare setting.
   
• Training in the workplace - National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) assess your performance skills and competence in the workplace when working towards an NVQ. They would be an assessor who would support and assess you. You work at your own pace but you can expect to take between 18 months and 2 years to get an NVQ level 3 qualification.

What is the salary?

• This will depend on qualifications age and experience.

Once I am working are there any opportunities for further training?

• Yes - there are a number of training courses, which are provided for childcare workers to develop their skills. You would also need to discuses with your manager in your workplace, your training needs.

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Thursday, 28 August, 2008

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