Apprentice Early Years Educator Review

During my day to day work, I usually work a full day around 8 hours a day. I arrive at the nursery setting and then begin to welcome the children in in the morning, I liaise with parents and other members of staff to ensure each child has a happy and productive day at nursery. I prepare meals, complete training, risk assess areas and activities and plan new and fun ways for the children to learn while in our care! At lunch time we sit with the children while the eat and talk about our food and why we eat healthy foods. After lunch most of the children have a nap so I ensure all the children have their comforters ready for their sleep. At the end of the day, I, along with the other practitioners in our room, have the responsibility to let parents know how their child’s day has been, this includes how they have eaten at lunch time, if they have had a nap and generally how they have interacted with us in the day.

I have been training in childcare for around a year now twitch Realise and my tutor [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions], I have learnt that childcare has changed a lot since I was little. There is now so much more that goes into early years settings to ensure children and parents are getting the support they need. From my apprenticeship I have learn about the EYFS and how we track children in setting to ensure they are ready to go to school at the age of around 4 or 5. I have been able to develop my skills to better recognise a child who is in need of extra support or a child who is falling behind. I have also learnt about how safeguarding and Prevent are major aspects of our roles in childcare and how we have a responsibility to report any discloses to our safeguarding lead in setting.

The webinars with Realise and their tutors are wonderful! They provide so much information and always recap information from previous webinars to ensure we are always thinking about what we have learnt. The webinars are often around 2 hours and are filled with information based on topics utilised in our roles. Realise training has also allowed me to be placed into a nursery setting with a wonderful team of men and women who value their staff. I often look forward to going into work to see my colleges and greet the children in our care!

Since starting my apprenticeship, the structure has been consistent. Despite some minor delays with COVID, the structure has very much stuck to a webinar followed my a zoom meeting with my tutor [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] (to discuss what I have learnt from the webinar) 2 weeks later, then followed by another webinar 2 weeks after that and the it repeats. I find this gives me time to reflect on what I have learnt and to complete some additional research before my discussion. I have support at work including staff supervision which ensure I am able to inform my employer if I am struggling and to discuss my mental and physical well-being in a safe environment. The programme is very organise and has really coped well considering the current times during this pandemic.

At work I feel I can speak to anyone regarding my workload and my well-being. We often have staff meetings where we can disclose any concerns and also complete staff supervisions where we can inform our employers if we are having and struggles and require any extra support. In the room I can speak with my room leader if I have any worries or if I am unsure or anything. My tutor [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] is also very easy to speak to and I know I can always email her if I need any support with my learning or my job role.

I have been studying for almost a year now and have received a lot of support from Realise. They often check in on me and I have a zoom call with my tutor [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] each month where she also ensures my well-being is ok as well as my learning. I know where I can access support if I am struggling and I am enjoying my training and learning.

I utilise my Realise training everyday during my job role. There are often times when I am thinking through what I have learnt without realising it. I would not consider any of the learning I have done to be useless. I put my theory into practice every time I enter my nursery setting, my training has meant that if I notice a child has a temperature I know what to do, I know what to do if a child has an allergy, I know how to plan an activity so that it is accessible for all the children in our care. What I have learn has not only been used in my job role but I now feel more confident in myself to be able to work with different age groups and provide equal opportunities.

In our setting we have a staff meeting each month to discuss any changes in the setting. This my include the recent changes to the EYFS or raising ideas for the next seasonal menu for the setting. These events also allow us to team build and work together to create ideas. We often get involved in charity events such as Children In Need or MacMillain Coffee Mornings. We also have an additional annex where we offer mum and baby classes, sensory classes and dance classes for young children and babies. We also have an awards evening once a year where staff are congratulated for their success during the year and the parents also get involved in voting for their Practitioner of The Year.

Yes

They have supported me throughout the last year to get to where I am now. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions], my tutor, has provided extra support and encouraged me to continue with my training. She is approachable and friendly and I often look forward to our monthly zoom calls. Realise has adapted well during the pandemic and has not allowed it to effect their teaching and learning, their portal is easy to use and their tutors are clear and well spoken to provide the best training.

Sell yourself, make sure you include YOU in your application. At your interview make sure you get across your interests, they want to know you as a person, not your CV. Make notes on all the webinars, you can’t learn everything from a PowerPoint presentation and often the best information and more memorable information is what the tutors are recalling from their personal experience. Take up all the opportunities for additional learning, some of the best webinars I have been on are those which have been guest speakers doing webinars as a one off, this can really help with your learning.