The council insists, at great expense to the nursery, that a primary teacher is employed to do this. This teacher need have no specific nursery training, no relevant nursery experience, and no particular inclination to work with this hugely challenging age group. The sole criterion is a current GTC registration number.
The knock-on effect this has on staff morale is enormous, with the result that it is becoming more and more difficult to recruit good nursery staff. Why would you want to work in a sector where even in the position of managing a dynamic, complicated company you are paid a similar or lower salary and accorded a lower status by the registering body than a person who has no experience or training in your specialised field?
We want to see high quality childcare and pre-school education delivered by the best people for the job - our wonderful nursery nurses and assistants.
Gail White, convenor, Scottish Independent Nurseries Association, East of Scotland branch
