The K.I.D.S. Assessment Centre – Awarding Body CACHE - was first established at The Kiddies Day Nursery, Kidderminster unit, in the summer of 2002. In addition to full-time staff employed, the nursery offered places to a further 15 students to be recruited in groups of 5 throughout the year.
Subject to interview, candidates came into the nursery, working initially on a 3-month trial basis, moving between the age groups of the nursery over a 4 x 3-month periods. Following this initial 3-month induction, candidates worked for a further 3-months in the Training Room with our owner/trainer Ms Denise Hodgetts, attending tutorials on the knowledge evidence required to build-up a portfolio of evidence in NVQ L:2 Early Years Care & Education (recently retitled Child Care, Learning & Development). The last 6 months of training took place in the nursery, carrying out their duties under the observation of the in-house work-based assessor, Stourport manager, Mrs Janice Parkes. As and when they achieved each of 10 units the candidates were either offered a training place on the Level:3 course or marketed out to other nurseries to gain more experience before continuing their knowledge training.
NVQ Level:2 in child care is all about how you do the job, NVQ L:3 reflects on why you do the job….
The NVQ L:3 could be achieved within 6 months if the candidate had put the effort into building up her portfolio of evidence at L:2. Supplementary training was offered to all candidates in Paediatric 1st Aid, Health & Safety Awareness, Food Hygiene Awareness, Child Protection (Safeguarding) and SEN Planning. Employed staff update these certificates every 3 years to maintain validity.
The success of the Training Centre has been proven by the employment from our training room of:-
Farhana Begum – Senior Staff
Lisa Willis – Senior Staff
Leah Harris nee:Wooldridge – Project Manager
Those listed above have been with The Kiddies Day Nursery for a number of years notwithstanding time off for maternity leave and career breaks!
The Assessment Centre ceased training during 2008 when funding for NVQs became unavailable to trainers in the private sector. As and when this situation changes, the centre will re-open as a Nursery Nurse Training Academy.
