by Avril Ross, Early Years Practitioner, FCSS Dundee
I am an early years practitioner at FCSS, I qualified in January of this year and I am thoroughly enjoying putting my qualification into practice.
No two days are the same at FCSS, due to the flexibility of our service there are lots of new people to meet every day and always lots going on, we care for children who have attended since they were small babies and for children who use the service on an ad hoc basis, I think this is fantastic for the children’s social skills, they form strong bonds and welcome new faces with open arms.
Our staff team is quite unique too. We have contracted staff who work every day and are a familiar face for the children and we also have sessional staff who work when they are available, I am part of the sessional staff team and work around my children and family commitments, this also allows my husband for focus completely on his personal training business.
I let management know my availability a week in advance and they assign me shifts in line with the needs of the service. This means I can take time off work for school holidays, appointments and it also means I dont have to miss special days with my children such as birthdays and school shows.
The staff team have a fantastic rapport and because we have such a diverse team we are always coming up with new ideas for the service and how this will benefit our families. The management team support me to further my skills with training and are often sharing ideas and free training courses to enable my practice.
I have only been working in childcare for two years but it is easily the most rewarding job I have ever had. Every day I get to watch our young people grow, I get to guide them in their learning and help shape them to be the people they will become. Now more than ever it is so important to teach kindness, empathy and provoke curiosity and to be able to do this every day is a blessing.
Working in childcare is an extremely rewarding experience, thanks to our staffbank we have jobs across Scotland. If you are an experienced childcare worker you can sign up now and benefit from the Real Living Wage and flexible working hours that fit in with your existing commitments.
