Nursery World - What more do they want us to learn?

I read with interest the comments about re-qualification made by Richard Dorrance, chief executive of the Council for Awards in Children's Care and Education (CACHE) ('Keeping up to date', Letters, 11 March). I am pleased that he sees no need for well-qualified and well-trained staff to repeat training. Now, if we can just pin him down to how many off-the-job hours of training are needed in each of the areas he mentioned, what exactly the syllabus is to cover, and what proof CACHE is looking for, I will be delighted. I have tried to get a straight answer to this for over a year and am constantly pushed towards staff taking the Accreditation of Prior Experience and Learning route, which is expensive and onerous on staff time. In the nursery I manage, staff undertake in-service training during regular Inset days, and other courses and conferences in their own time. We could, with the proper information, devise our own training and complete it as a group in-house.

I have tried to get a straight answer to this for over a year and am constantly pushed towards staff taking the Accreditation of Prior Experience and Learning route, which is expensive and onerous on staff time. In the nursery I manage, staff undertake in-service training during regular Inset days, and other courses and conferences in their own time. We could, with the proper information, devise our own training and complete it as a group in-house.

The goodwill of nursery workers is being stretched to the limit.

Traditionally many of us have been committed to undertaking training in our own time - often one-off events and courses that have not led to an additional recognised qualification, but have developed our understanding and expertise, and benefited children.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included