There is no set pathway into a career in early learning and childcare and there are many ways to gain the experience and qualifications needed to get started in a career in ELC. The journey is often unique for each ELC colleague.
Linda Reid is an Early Years Coordinator within the Education & Children’s service team at Perth & Kinross council, However, Linda’s ELC career started more than 20 years ago. Her interest in early years sparked when her own two children were young and attended local play groups and parent & toddler groups. Linda was active in these groups and held various roles to ensure they ran smoothly.
When Linda’s children started nursery, she returned to the workplace as a nightshift supervisor in a local children’s home, supporting teenagers. In 2000, Linda took up post as a classroom assistant in Tulloch Primary School. To begin with, Linda worked across the school community before settling into the role in the junior section of the school, offering support and early intervention to P1-3's. Linda quickly realised this was her passion so took a career break to enrol in the local college and study for her HNC Early Childhood Practitioner qualification. Upon completion, Linda initially returned to the school environment whilst waiting for an Early Childhood Practitioner position to become available but was soon appointed as an Early Childhood Practitioner in the school nursery.
Linda began her Early Childhood Practitioner career in the small school nursery, becoming completely embedded in both the learning and local communities. She knew many of the children and their families and had worked with the school staff during her time as a classroom assistant.
Over the years, Linda became part of the growth and development of the nursery. When the Senior Early Childhood Practitioner pilot scheme was launched, Linda noted her interest in the pilot and with that, her commitment to complete the required qualifications – BA Early Childhood practice. To be completed in five years, it was challenging balancing full-time employment with study. Despite being a big learning curve, Linda developed her own knowledge and pedagogy methodology; and understood the benefit of sharing this with others.
When the pilot came to end, Linda ‘acted up’ before successfully interviewing for a permanent Senior Early Childhood Practitioner post. At that time, not all setting had a permanent teacher and this was the case at Tulloch. Instead, they had support from an Early Years teacher who would visit the nursery each week. This was in line with the legal requirement for children to have access to a teacher and gave Linda the opportunity to build strong relationships with fellow educators and agencies.
Introduction of 1140
The introduction of 1140 brought more change and a new nursery for Linda and her team. Staffing increased from 4 to 13 and the team welcomed colleagues from the PVI sector, Modern Apprentices and newly qualified practitioners. The number of children also increased from 25 to 66 per session, and for the first time the setting would be welcoming eligible two-year olds. For some of the staff, this would be the first time they cared for two-year olds. It was quite different to looking after three-five- year-olds and the team completed training to prepare for this.
As a Senior Early Childhood Practitioner Linda had to ensure they got this right and encouraged the team to share knowledge, skills and experiences. This was a significant change for the team to handle, however the phased approach in introducing new children to the settings made this more manageable. The relationships Linda has built over the years with families in the community was a crucial part of this too, Linda lived in the community and had worked with or knew many of the families and children embarking on their early years journey.
When settings were given the opportunity to support Modern Apprentices, Linda and the team at Tulloch were delighted to participant and support students as they started their career in early years.
In 2018, Linda became a mentor to Anna, a Modern Apprentice who was working towards her Early Childhood Practitioner qualification. From the start of her 15-month placement, Anna was very much part of the team. She was given the learning materials and was learning on the job with the support of the Tulloch Team. Linda, Anna and the training provider met monthly throughout the duration of the placement and in 2020, Linda attended Anna's graduation.
I completed my SVQ level 3 Social Services (Children and Young People) at the beginning of 2020. I started my Modern Apprenticeship in October 2018 at Tulloch Nursery where I spent fifteen months learning on the job. During those fifteen months, I worked my way through mandatory modules the addressed all aspects of child development and childcare. I was given half a day a week to work on the modules in the nursery and done some work at home in the evenings. I was supported by an external tutor who visited me regularly and my manager Linda, who was my mentor. I was delighted when Linda continued to support me by attending my graduation.
The time spent acting up helped Linda know that she wanted to move into management. In 2020, she left Tulloch nursery and joined the central ELC team. This was another big learning curve and was very different to the environment she had worked in for so long. However, understanding an ECP role and having ‘walked the walk’ on the floor, Linda could relate to the needs of settings. With this understanding and with the theoretical learning knowledge, Linda was able to support the unique needs of the staff, children and families across the wider learning community.
Part of Linda’s role as an Early Years Coordinator, is to support the training and continuous professional development of students and practitioners. Since joining the management team, Linda has supported coordinating the Learn to Work in Early Years programme and continues to support the Modern Apprentice programme. Unlike the previous Learn to Work in Early Years cohorts, learning for the final cohort took place because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Interactions with training providers and candidates now had to take place online. Despite this, Linda still met regularly with the university and the candidates through the duration of the course. This is also the case for the Modern Apprentice programme. Linda meets regularly with the candidates, their mentors and the training provider throughout the 15-month course to ensure candidates are supported and on track to achieve their qualification; or to offer support to those who would benefit from additional time to complete this. Working so closely with this programme has allowed Linda to develop a training programme specifically geared to Perth and Kinross Council.
Linda has been in post as an Early Years Coordinator since the February 2020, however soon after joining the management team, it was all hands-on deck as the pandemic hit. The Early Years team spent five months supporting the key worker childcare hub. The hubs were open to children of all ages and were supported by staff from across the service. Linda and the wider team worked incredible hard to build strong relationships with the parents who were dropping their children off to setting and with staff neither were familiar with. The temporary childcare hubs closed in August 2020 when the children were able to return to usual settings. The success of the temporary hubs was down to dedication of the entire ELC workforce and by utilising the diverse skill set.
I feel very privileged to part of a child’s education journey and for being able to make a difference in my own community. I miss the children terribly; I miss building relationships with them and observing their development. However, I embarked on my own early years career to support families. In my role as an Early Years Coordinator, I can improve experiences and make change for the better.