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Careers Advisors - How you can support the campaign

We all recognise that providing the inquiring minds of today's youth with guidance, new experiences and opportunities is not only important to their professional development but it's also paramount to building the committed and qualified workforces of tomorrow.  So we would like to share why we think early years career guidance should be featured in every school's careers programme.

Pilot

Early Years Professionals are integral to supporting the millions of working parents in today's society. Irrespective of what career path a young person will choose, at some point in their lives, if they choose to have a family they will come to rely on flexible, quality childcare to support them.

Working families need childcare but the childcare industry is in crisis with thousands of job opportunities available, and not enough qualified childcarers coming in to the market to fill the roles. It is critical that schools have more information and guidance on the opportunities that exist in the sector in order to support students with making choices. A career in childcare suits young people who are caring and passionate about making a difference to the world they live in.

Careers Strategy (DfE, December, 2017)

The Careers Strategy states that each school must have a named Careers Leader and that 20 Careers Hubs will be set up across the country - each supported by a Gatsby Coordinator from the CEC. Gatsby Benchmarks  advise  that every young person by 2020 should have been offered seven encounters with employers by their school. At least one a year from Y7 to Y13.

Given the thousands of job opportunities in the childcare sector, and critical nature of these roles to society, it would make absolute sense that there should be greater collaboration between careers professionals, employers, and schools to help to make a difference, particularly in the dissemination of careers information and guidance in relation to the Early Years Sector.

As the largest UK network of childcare recruitment agencies, Tinies Childcare are in a unique position to raise awareness of the large number of opportunities for employment in the childcare industry and would welcome the opportunity to work with Careers Advisors from both the private and public sector to help put young people on the pathway to success.

We feel it is particularly important to engage with students aged 12 to 15, to help them become aware of the options available before they make choices on the subjects they wish to pursue to qualification.

Schools can sign up to Inspiring the Future

As part of the Inspiring a Future in Childcare campaign, we have teamed up with the Education and Employers Charity which enables schools to connect pupils with employee volunteers. The Charity designed, in consultation with teachers and business leaders, the Inspiring the Future volunteering platform.

In England alone over 80% of secondary schools have registered and are able to contact locally registered volunteers by email and at no cost. Over 40,000 volunteers nationally have registered who work in a variety of sectors and now we are starting to grow the number of volunteers from the childcare sector.

Volunteers are rated by schools staff and 96% of teachers who have held an Inspiring the Future event would recommend the service to a colleague.

Childcare Career Speed Networking Events

Our inaugural childcare career speed networking event in London was hosted by Tinies Childcare, Education & Employers Charity, and the Department for Education, and demonstrated what can be achieved when schools and local employers work in partnership.

This event gave students an opportunity to meet and talk to professionals working across the childcare industry. It successfully challenged students perceptions and helped to broaden  their understanding of the choices that existed to help them to make decisions on their career and subject choices at school.

It was a great success with 71% of young people sharing they would now consider a career in the childcare sector.

 

Here's how you can get involved:

  • Discuss the campaign and Early Years opportunities withCareers Leaders in Schools, so that Early Years Careers start to be included in their Career Programmes.
  • Start to include Early Years professionals in your future careers events/activities or host a Childcare Career networking event of your own.
  • Encourage teachers from schools and colleges, who may not already be signed up to Education and Employers Inspiring the Future to register.
  • Speak to Early Years Sector organisations in your area to understand if there might be work experience opportunities for young people.

For more information about this event and how you can get involved please visit here or download our Inspiring A Future In Childcare leaflet here.
 

 

 
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Thank you for delivering on your promise as you know I was so worried about the childcare. Many thanks.
Michelle, Northants