Both children and staff can reap the reward of having grannies coming in to work in a pre-school setting, writes Eve Boggenpoel
As part of its campaign, 'Changing lives, changing life', which aims to highlight the contribution that parents and grandparents make to early years settings, the Pre-school Learning Alliance collated the stories of several grandparents working in pre-schools, a selection of which we recount below. It is clear that the experience older women gain while caring for their own children and grandchildren is taken with them to the pre-schools - to the benefit of everyone involved.
Margaret Sutherland
Sixty-three-year-old Margaret Sutherland has been working at Bo-Peeps Pre-school in Rochester, Kent for the past year. She started out helping a couple of days a week while her granddaughter attended the scheme, but after her granddaughter left, Bo- Peeps asked if she would like to stay on as an assistant.
'Working at the pre-school gives me a lot of satisfaction in many ways,' says Margaret. 'When you get to a certain age, you are told there are no jobs for you. If I wasn't working, I'd just be sitting at home and that would drive me crazy.' But the feeling goes deeper than just having something to do. 'I feel there is something I can contribute,' says Margaret. 'The years of experience an older person has can be quite valuable.'
Bo-Peeps has around 70 children between two and a half to four years of age on its register, and runs two sessions a day. Margaret comes in four mornings a week, and one of her roles is to prepare the mid-morning snack. Fruit, biscuits and drinks are laid out for the children's break, and after clearing up, Margaret will sit and help the children with their activities.
'Although the children are playing, they're still learning,' says Margaret. 'Some are a little shy when they first arrive, but by the end of the first term, they've really come out of their shells, and they call me Gran! I can't put it into words, but it gives me a lovely feeling to see how they develop.'
Ironically, because she is less involved, Margaret believes she can give the children more direct attention. 'I'm just sitting watching, I don't have to plan activities or make notes, so there's less pressure. I can just be there for the children, while the staff may be busy writing things down. In a way, I'm there to help the staff do their jobs.
'Sometimes you feel your life is over, but at Bo-Peeps they all make me feel I'm wanted and appreciated and that makes me feel special. Rather than feel left on the shelf, I feel I'm part of life.'
Mary Brady
Before taking early retirement, 60-year-old Mary Brady was a dispenser at Boots the Chemists, but for the past two years she has been helping out at the Orchard Pre-School at Rainham in Kent. Mary hadn't intended to work with the under-fives - she had already been offered a post as a receptionist at the local doctor's surgery - but all this changed one afternoon, while collecting her granddaughter from pre-school.
'Katie used to bring home library books and that day, just as I met her, a badge on one of the books fell off and rolled towards the road. I charged around trying to find it and ended up breaking my leg!' she recalls. 'I was incapacitated for a while, so I lost the job at the surgery. Instead, I helped out at the Orchard, and when Katie went to school, they asked me to work two days a week as a secretary.'
Mary feels older women have a lot to offer a setting. 'There is another grandmother working at my pre-school, so the children are used to seeing older women around. I think we are more laid back about everything. We take a more relaxed attitude.'
When Mary's own daughter was young, their social life was quite informal. 'A few adults and children got together in a big house. It was more like a mothers and toddlers group really. It was so different then. The children used to play with the dog and feed the chickens. There weren't all the regulations that you have now,' she says.
Mary values her involvement at the pre-school as it has enabled her to be more of an individual, and not simply defined by a role. 'Working at the pre-school has changed my life for the better, and given me some purpose. When I go there, I'm not my husband's wife, or my granddaughter's grandma; I'm myself. I have my own identity.'
Some time ago, Mary developed breast cancer, which is now, thankfully, in remission. But she has seen this as an opportunity to live her life more consciously. Partly this involves doing things that are meaningful to her. 'I get a great deal of satisfaction watching the children develop new skills, and seeing their confidence grow. My breast cancer has made me see things differently. I don't just want to watch my life go by, I want to make the most of my time.'
Jenny Finch
Unlike Mary,56-year-old Jenny Finch had always wanted to be a nursery teacher. But living abroad hadn't always made that an easy option. Jenny was a teenager in Malawi at the time the country gained independence in 1964, and recalls the riots that meant she and her friends had to travel to school with armed escorts. It wasn't for another ten years, when living in the Middle East, that Jenny realised her ambition to work with young children. 'There I was floating about playing tennis and swimming in the sun, when my husband said it was about time I got a job. A couple of days later, I heard the local nursery was looking for staff.'
Once back in England, the move into a pre-school was a natural step, and Jenny started to work for St Francis in Frimley, Surrey, where she has remained for the past 20 years. Like Mary, she isn't the only mature worker at the pre-school. 'We have quite a few women my age, and a couple are older,' she says. 'But, because you don't have the pressures of your own family to deal with, you can be more patient.' Rather than behave differently around older staff, Jenny finds the children are very accepting and responsive. 'It's your personality that makes more of a difference to a child than your age,' she believes.
Besides, children often take no notice of social expectations. 'I'll always remember one little boy,' she recalls. 'The worker had asked the child next to him a question. He took one look at the other boy and turned around and said, "He's bloody thick, isn't he?" I'll never forget that one!'
Jenny finds parents also appreciate workers who have the experience that comes with age. 'Older women are able to empathise with parents going through difficult times, because, by the time you reach a certain age you've probably experienced most things, and understand more. The staff appreciate this as well. Often you've gone through similar things earlier in your career, and your advice can be quite helpful to them.'
But the benefits are not just for the pre-school. 'Working at the pre-school has given me much more confidence and the staff are really encouraging and supportive. Working with the children keeps you young, and talking with the parents helps to keep your ideas young.'
Jenny has seen a lot of changes over the years, but perhaps the most striking, she says, is the quantity of written work staff now have to undertake. She spends most afternoons catching up on paperwork, and is concerned there is a danger of over-emphasising the importance of this area. 'It's easy to get the impression that the most important thing is what is written down on paper, whereas really, what matters most is what is happening with the children.'
