Nursery World - Playgroups for the community

By Roella Trudgill, a former playgroup worker from Diss, Norfolk After 17 years of being involved with the local playgroup I am finally throwing in the towel. When my daughter started there 17 years ago I helped as an assistant in a truly community-run playgroup. I then went on to become relief supervisor to cover maternity leave and sick leave, with the Pre-school Learning Alliance's Learning Through Play as my sole qualification. It was only when my youngest child started four years ago that people realised I had no formal qualifications and considered me unfit to work with children. So I decided at the age of 42 to do a BTec National Childhood Studies course to gain not only a recognised qualification but also respect as a professional. But I have reluctantly concluded that working in a pre-school will never give you the respect received in other settings. At a recent Early Learning Goals training course reception class teachers were able to claim 140 costs while pre-school leaders doing exactly the same job were allowed to claim only 70.

But I have reluctantly concluded that working in a pre-school will never give you the respect received in other settings. At a recent Early Learning Goals training course reception class teachers were able to claim 140 costs while pre-school leaders doing exactly the same job were allowed to claim only 70.

When I sent my letter of resignation to the playgroup committee, some parents suggested putting the fees up to enable them to give me a 'much-deserved pay rise'. But one parent said, 'Plagroups are intended to provide cheap childcare.' I found this both outdated and offensive. With the introduction of free places for most four-year-olds and soon three-year-olds, plus the childcare tax credit, there is no need for anyone to want cheap childcare, as funding is available to all who need it. There should be one blanket charge across the sector so all workers receive a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

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