EYPS jobs?

EYPS jobs?

by: Kat - 29-11-07 16:45

I'm currently undertaking the EYPS full trainning pathway and love it. However I don't have a job in the sector and am weary that I won't be able to find a job in the role I want straight away. I enjoy working with the chilldren and am very child orientated so know I wouldn't like a managerial role at present. Just wondering if anyone else feels the same way? Plus feel a bit of a loose end as its just a status so not necessarily going to be able to walk into a job like if I'd done a PGCE.

by: jade

i know how you feel, i am doing the short the pathway and at present it seems there is no recognision for the eyp's.

we have a debate at our last session and said it should come in line with qts and should be renamed eyt (early years teacher).

I have yet to see any jobs asking for early years professional status.

RE: RE: EYPS jobs? - 13-12-07 15:01

by: hedgehog

I did the validation pathway last Spring. Unless is going to be recognised as QTS for the Foundation Stage, EYPS is a waste of time.

I have now got a place on the GTP training as a teacher in a school for 3 - 7 age group. I need proper recognition as a proper Foundation Stage teacher 7 there seems no other way other than getting proper Teacher Status.

RE: RE: RE: EYPS jobs? - 25-07-08 18:34

by: bam259

Hi Hedgehog,

It may seem like a waste of time now but when you qualify as a teacher you will be one step ahead of others without EYPS as it will be a requirement in 2010 for all early years teachers.

Good luck with the GTP

by: Tink84

Me too

 I am doing the full time pathway and at present it seems that those alredy employed are being offered jobs in there setting

by: fi

I absolutly agree, I'm doing the EYPS course now on the full training pathway, and I think it should be called a PGCEYE (Post Graduate Certificate in Early Years Education) because then it would be recocnised as on a par with a PGCE. 

 But I don't think it should be too difficult to find a job, it might not be a top salary job at first but all settings are going to need an EYP eventually, and there was a job for an EYP advertised in nursery world this week.

I think alot of settings are trying to train their own staff as EYPS but not every setting has graduates working for them.  However, I think if you've got a PGCE and an EYPS you've got a much high chance of getting a good job.  But can I be bothered with another year at uni?

Thanks

Fi

by: kathleen

Hi Kat,

Stick with it mate, your doing a fabulous job in University and I feel you will definately be snapped up for a super job in recognition for all your hard work....

Love another EYPS x x

by: Tunja

Are there EYPS jobs out there?

I find employers are still looking for QTS as the next qualification above NVQ3 for prospective staff.

The work force development council claimed it would all be sorted in time for the foundation stage. Now they are citing documents from 2006 which have not been updated to take account of the EYPS becoming more common. 

Writing to appropriate ministers does not lead to a response either. I get the impression they feel that if we are ignored then maybe we will go away. 

by: redsky

All settings are going to need an EYP, but private settings have 7 years to get one, so just because they do not have a graduate working for them doesn't mean they don't have existing staff who are capable of completing a degree and their EYPS in that time. It's important to remember that people who wanted to be nursery nurses up until recently had no need for a degree and wouldn't have wanted to spend time and money on something they weren't going to use. So just because they don't have a degree, it doesn't mean they're not clever enough to get one and now they need one, are quite likely to go and get one. I am a qualified level 3 (BTEC), and am working towards my BA in Early Years part-time so that I can then do the EYPS, because I am the Head of Pre-school in my setting and can see myself losing my job to an EYPS if I don't do it myself. I think it will be quite hard for EYPs to get a job, because private settings will have their own people training up not wanting to lose their jobs, and government-funded settings will probably want QTS as well. EYPs need to make a lot of contacts on their placements to help them get a job when they finish.

by: timmylums

I am currently on the f/t pathway and in my second placement. I can understand what everyone is saying, management in my first placement were very negative and felt that an EYP was not needed as they would have their own staff although these staff will struggle as accademically they are not ready to tackle a degree. In my second placement they are very positive, they admit that they do not have anybody willing or capable of a degree and are more than happy with the impact and difference that I have made in my short time there. I myself am very sceptic about what the future holds but through lots of visits to other settings (doing supply work) I can see the great need for higher qualified staff. It is unbeleivable, the  difference between the standard of learning and behaviour in nursery school (teacher led) and a private nursery/children's centre (practitioner led). Yet all of these children will enter mainstream school expected to have the same level of input during their early years. As a parent I am so glad that my child attended a teacher led pre-school as I would not have been happy if she had been in the care of a level 3 (no disrepect but training and knowledge cannot live with that of a qualified early years teacher) and this is were the  EYP will close the gaps. Hence the reason it is such a high level status and requries a good standard of literacy, numeracy and child development. If you are considering going for EYP or even employing an EYP in your setting do not look at is as a money status but an opportunity to ensure that children leaving your setting to go to school have had as good an input as those that start school at three.          

by: redsky

timmylums, can you please just clarify for me how you know that there are no staff in private day care settings who are academically capable of attaining a degree?

by: sar

Timmylums, am afraid i disagree. not all staff within settings are incapable of obtaining the degree and eyps status. I have just been appointed manager and before that was leader of a pre-school within a private day nursery. As a level 3,  i was pleased with the standard of learning provided to the children, and all were fully prepared for their transition to school. Just because you have level 3 does not mean you uare not able yo do more. i have now gained my level 4 and am undretaking the foundation degree. i believe it all depends on what support is being provided.

not being funny, but are you actually working at the moment or have you ever worked ina nursery? not all staff within nurseries are the same.

by: timmylums

Sorry to mislead anybody but  I did not say that there is no one in private daycare capable of doing a degree but I was speaking from experience of a particular setting were no staff are able to take up the role of EYP without first getting a degree.As children's centres need to have an EYP by 2010 and some do not have anyone working towards or with a degree now then they are not capable of getting the required qualifications in time.    Only yesterday I was talking to a friend who is an excellent practitioner with over 9 years exp, she has been asked by her manager to do the EYPs course but first she will need to do a degree plus get her GCSEs so this will be over 3 years hard slog that she does not feel it is worth while. I agree that not all nurseries are the same and not all staff have the same ability some level 3 staff would have the capabilities of meeting the EYP standards quite easily but are not eligible at present, this could be another reason why this role will be resented by some people.            

by: redsky

Thanks for clearing that up timmylums, sorry for being sensitive about it, just seems to be a bit of an issue at the moment about this whole thing!! I think the problem I have is that the majority of people I have met and talked to who are studying the EYPS full-time pathway, are very presumptious about people who already work in nurseries, and I'm a bit fed up of them treating me like I know a lot less than them, just because they have a degree in something like mathes or criminology, even though they have never worked with children before. I know this is not the case for everybody doing the full-time EYPS and I am not saying anyone on here is like that, but I think people do need to be more tactful and show respect for people who have completed the qualifications necessary at the time, eg. BTEC Early Years (L3), and have experience working with the children.

by: timmylums

Thanks for that,  I can understand you being fed up,I am a bit that way myself as people think you cannot look after children if you do not have a level 3 in childcare, Sometimes you are not given a chance to showyour ability and that is one reason why I opted for the full time pathway, my degree is in early years but I wanted more opportunity to work with under 3s and chose to get this whilst doing the course as I needed to work across all age ranges.   

by: redsky

Well, if your degree is in early years then I have even less of a problem with you lol! My main problem is people (and I have met and talked to them, not making these people up!) who have been told that their degree is not relevant to get them on the PCGE course, so they're doing the EYPS instead because you can get on that with any degree. And they're coming to our setting with the attitude that they know everything they need to know about children and all they need to learn is the paperwork side of things, and then they'll be able to go get a job as an EYP. I was really worried that my setting is going to employ somebody who is working there when they have qualified, and that would mean me pretty much losing half of my job, but probably still end up doing it at the same time. But my manager has reassured me that they're going to look for somebody with a good EY background, such as a EY degree or experience, not just the EYPS one year. And hopefully, if I finish all of my work by 2014 as planned, I might get the job myself (that I already do haha!).

So, to get back to the topic of this thread, if you have a degree in early years or childhood or something roughly along that line, or you have some background in early years, which could even be bringing up your own children or volunteering or something, then I think you will be able to find a job. But if you don't have either of these, then I think you'll find it a tricky to get a job except in a nursery where they're not too bothered so long as they've got an EYP on paper to please ofsted. And these type of nursery are not the best places to work. My advice would be to get as much experience as possible whilst on your course, and really try and learn from the Level 3 in your setting (if they're not any good, switch settings!), then you might get offered a job there or at least a really good reference. Sorry for the length!!!

by: timmylums

I sympathise with what you say redsky, I have met some people who do not have a relevent degree and are doing the 12 or 15 month pathway which also gives them the opportunity to attend early years lectures but to be honest I am yet to meet anybody who has lasted the course. As you say some people think they know it all and that is the wrong attitude. Don't lose heart or faith as I am sure your job is safe, if your setting does employ an EYP take it as an opportunity to take some pressure off your role afterall if this ass.essment is as strict and rigorous as it seems then only people with sound knowldege will get through anyway. You have a review at the start of the final three months, this is a set of serious assessments that you need to pass (and you need to know your stuff) or you cannot progress anyway so don't worry many people will drop out or be weeded out at this point anyway. Sorry to stray from the forum title but just felt the need to say this here!!!               

by: Tunja

by: redsky

At the moment private, voluntary and independent settings don't need an EYP until 2015, so they may be hoping that if they get a QTS, they'll only need to do the 6 month EYPS route at some point (the long 3 month route for people who need to plug gaps, i.e. 0-3), and then they'll have someone who is a qualified teacher and also an EYP. Think about it, if they're going tp have to pay a decent salary anyway, why not get both? Ofsted only say Level 2 is necessary apart from one member of staff in each room, but many nurseries still choose to ask for only Level 3s. Just because DCSF guidelines say you only need EYPS, doesn't mean nurseries have to settle at that, if they can afford the wages they might choose to have someone who is QTS and EYP. That's only reason I can think of anyways.