Over the threshold
Treating a student like any respected new worker in the nursery is the key to a productive placement all round, as Mary Evans explains
Placements for childcare students are meant to be a golden learning opportunity. But sometimes the dream turns to a nightmare, as when the students claim to have been treated as skivvies or the nursery managers protest that they have been skiving.
The commonest pitfall seems to be poor communication. Students are ignorant of how they are expected to behave and childcare settings are unclear about the extent of the work which has to be undertaken and how it should be supervised.
It is no wonder that childcare organisations emphasise the importance of forging good relationships between the colleges and the settings and of the need for the settings to appoint skilled student mentors.
Indeed, the section on student portfolios in the National Day Nursery Association's new Quality Assurance scheme advises nurseries to foster good links with colleges before the placements start. According to Karen Walker, NDNA network co-ordinator, some settings provide students with honorary contracts which are modelled on a formal employment contract but are not legally binding. They serve to give the student a sense of responsibilities and rights while at the nursery and reinforce the message that the placement period is not a soft option nor a holiday from college but a practical work experience exercise.
Honorary contracts can cover the need for the student to observe the nursery's policies and procedures on, for example, the dress code, working hours and confidentiality. They can also detail the requirement for the setting to provide the student with supervision and support in a planned programme of work.
Anne Sheldon, operations manager of the nursery chain Child & Co, suggests that students should be invited to the setting for an informal visit before the placement starts. 'You can use the visit to raise issues like the dress code,' she says. 'It is much better to say then "we don't allow jeans or earrings or whatever", rather than have to correct them on their first day. The relationship between the student and mentor is not going to get off to a good start if the first thing the mentor has to do is send the student to the toilet to take out her earrings or wash off layers of make-up.'
Maureen Smith, curriculum and assessment director at the Council for Awards in Children's Care and Education (CACHE), says the Practice Evidence Record Sheets for the CACHE diploma cover all the practical assignments students need to undertake. They also cover issues such as personal development, including time- keeping, reliability and team working. 'We legislate to the Nth degree so the record sheets are comprehensive.'
While settings often provide students with an induction pack, Kate Beith, principal of Chiltern College in Caversham also recommends that colleges should in turn provide the settings with up-to-date information packs. 'The requirements for the qualifications change, and the constant cry from the settings is "we didn't know they had to do that". So we provide the settings with a pack that explains everything the students have to cover in their placements.'
Placements often run for blocks of several weeks but Mrs Beith prefers her students to spend two days a week in college and three on placement so the students do not become isolated. She explains, 'If, for example, a student has a problem she can come back that week and discuss it with her personal tutor, who can say "try this or that next time". If they have a problem with someone at the setting we would always encourage them to work it through before we got involved - that is what being professional is all about. They have to learn how to work in a team.'
Sometimes it is not just the students who are on a learning curve. Mentors need to know how to supervise and give feedback. Mrs Beith adds, 'People need to remember that these students are still learning and will make mistakes. If a student plans an activity and does not provide enough equipment, it is no help to make them feel completely worthless. Instead the mentor should discuss constructively what they would do another time.'
When a placement works well it can prove to be the first paving stone in a career path with that particular setting. Anne Sheldon says, 'If somebody is good we try to recruit him or her. We will offer holiday work and then when they are about to finish college, if there is not a vacancy at the nursery in which they have been working we will try to organise an interview for them at another of our nurseries nearby.'
Make the most of student placements
Before a placement starts
Appoint a senior member of staff to be student mentor or placement co-ordinator. Make sure the mentor has the appropriate skills or undertakes extra training to do the job effectively.
Ensure the mentor talks to the student's personal tutor at college to know exactly what the student needs to cover during the placement and whom to contact if a problem arises.
Invite the student to visit the setting. This will enable you to introduce the student to key staff, and allow you to begin to get to know each other so you can agree in which area of the nursery they will start work. It also lets you raise matters such as your dress code and working hours.
Notify parents in your regular newsletter or on your bulletin boards that you have a student starting, give details of his/her courses and where and when he/she will be working in the nursery.
When a placement starts
Give the student an induction pack along the lines of the documentation provided to all new employees.
Get the mentor to show the student around the premises and introduce the student to all the staff as well as to the children with whom they will be working.
Explain clearly about break times, working hours and the daily routine. Plan with the student a work programme for the course of the placement, to ensure that all relevant areas are covered.
During a placement
Arrange to give feedback on an informal daily/weekly basis. The mentor and student should hold more formal monthly meetings, as with any new member of staff on probation, to make sure the objectives in the work programme are being achieved.
Ensure the college tutor visits the student in the setting and hold a review meeting. If there are problems with a student's work you must set and agree action plans and monitor their implementation.
Invite the student to all staff meetings and curriculum planning. If these are held after work it is unlikely the students will stay, but remember to give them a summary of what was decided.
Remember the student is learning. Talk things through in a constructive way about how he or she could act differently in the future.
After a placement
Maintain links with good students - this is especially wise in the current recruitment crisis.
Take an interest in the rest of the student's college career and offer holiday or weekend work.
