Editors letter

James Tweed editor
Wednesday, June 18, 2003

This edition of Training Today is being published in the middle of National Sure Start Month, a hectic four weeks of activities acrossEngland. Its aims are to spotlight the largely unsung work of the country's various registered daycare providers - day nurseries, childminders, pre-schools and playgroups, and out-of-school clubs - and to raise people's awareness of childcare as a profession, especially among ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities and men. At present, only about two per cent of childcarers in the UK and Northern Ireland are men. The Government wants to see this number rise inEngland to six per cent by 2006, while Scotland,Wales and Northern Ireland also aspire to having more male nursery nurses, male childminders and male playgroup workers. But regardless of their gender, childcarers want to be seen to be what they are - professionals - and for their skills and training to be recognised. They want a career structure that gives them a chance to climb the professional ladder and the flexibility to move between sectors as they climb. So a childcarer may begin with, say, the Diploma in Childcare andEducation and work for a few years as a nursery nurse in a day nursery until starting a family of her own.Then she may opt to stay home with her own child and work as a registered childminder, updating and improving her skills through such initiatives as the National Childminding Association's Quality First scheme (see News on page 4). Later she may decide to work in a day nursery again - albeit at a more senior level - so embarks on a Foundation Degree in early years not only to give her the qualification necessary for senior management, but also to complement all her years of first-hand knowledge and understanding of how different sectors work. The result for her is much greater job satisfaction and a sense of achievement, and the knowledge that she is contributing to the next generation of childcarers. Training is key to such long-term development.