Work Matters: Careers - Where do I go from here?

Experience

When my children were young I trained to become a Portage worker and combined this with the role of pre-school leader for several years. I then set up a day nursery, managing a team of 12 workers, but always wanted to work with special needs children. Four years ago I took on the job of full-time Portage worker in our county's first children's centre.

What I do

I provide a home-based educational service to families who have a child under five with special needs. I visit each family on a weekly or fortnightly basis, for one to two hours. I receive referrals from our child development centre and can have up to 15 children on my caseload at any time.

Portage works with the family, breaking down a new skill into achievable steps. We look at what the child can already do, what they are interested in and then devise a plan of skills for them to practise.

During my visit I introduce the next steps and model the adult's input for the parent to observe and to practise. The parent will then continue with the activities between my visits. Each step is celebrated with the family.

I inform other professionals of our progress, either verbally, through a written report or by attending a care plan meeting. I make regular visits to the early years setting that the child is attending, keeping staff informed of skills that the child is practising.

Ambition

I'd like to continue my professional development towards becoming a children's centre manager.

OPTIONS:

Michele clearly values the work she does enabling children with special needs to gain the benefits of accessing the best learning and opportunities, and supporting their families in the process.

Having begun an early years career after having her own children, she will have personal understanding of family life. This is of great value when working with families in their own homes.

Developing trust with the child and their family requires sensitivity as well as a professional pragmatism. These qualities are also necessary when managing provision, working with different settings and being part of a multi-agency team.

National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL)

Michele has chosen to study for a qualification that will enable her to consider centre leadership positions within services for children. This qualification is focused on the management of settings which bring together teams from different agencies within health, education and social care, offering an integrated approach to services.

When considering management positions, it is essential to demonstrate practical experience of managing projects and provision, and show that you have completed further related qualifications at level 4 and above.

In Michele's case, she has managed her own nursery and existing Portage workload as well as studying for the NPQICL. Integrated working is the Government's key driver in improving outcomes for children and young people, so a qualification that reflects knowledge and understanding of how teams work together should stand her in good stead in the future.

- Salary scale: Children's centre management positions from £34,000

EARLY YEARS AREA SPECIAL NEEDS CO-ORDINATOR

As Michele has a real passion for enabling children to integrate and access provision, she could consider working more directly with early years practitioners.

Her Portage experience would be very beneficial for this type of work, where she would be required to provide advice, support and ongoing training.

She would be employed as part of a wider local authority advisory team, usually within the education department, working with maintained, private and voluntary settings to improve the quality of provision and procedural approaches to inclusion for children with special needs. She would also liaise with other health and social services professionals.

- Salary scale: £32,000-£36,700 (varies by authority)

PARENTING CO-ORDINATOR

This is an option where Michele could use her passion and experience of working with parents, carers and families. Often this role is within a local authority's parenting support service.

Essential to this type of work is an understanding and experience of multi-disciplinary work, family, community and cultural diversity, and the important role of parents and carers. The ability to provide support programmes to families and experience of managing provision and collaborating with multi-agency professionals would again be essential.

- Salary scale: from £33,000

Name: Michele Allam

Age: 41

Current Role: Outreach Portage worker

Qualifications: Diploma in Pre-school Practice, Portage training, Elklan speech and language course, level 1 British Sign Language, currently studying for the NPQICL

Tina Jefferies, The Red Space Company

www.redspacecompany.com, email info@redspacecompany.com