'I have an NVQ level 2 in Childcare and Education, and am working as a nursery assistant in a private nursery. I am interested in becoming a classroom assistant in a primary school, but don't know how to proceed. Are there courses I should attend?'
Meg Jones replies:
Some schools will appoint classroom assistants with level 2 qualifications or none at all, although a level 3 qualification is often the requirement. If you can show maturity and life experience you may be successful in being appointed as a classroom assistant with your current NVQ2 qualification. If not, to increase your chances, it is probably worth doing an NVQ 3 to enable you to apply for a level 3 qualified staff post.
There is a course designed for classroom assistants called the Specialist Teacher Assistant Award, accredited by CACHE, in which you undertake six hours of study-centre based training each week over an academic year.
You will also be expected to study up to nine hours a week in you own time, plus spend two to three days a week in a school setting. You also need a GCSE in maths and English at grade C or above. This course prepares you to work as a trained teaching assistant to support qualified teachers in basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics. To take this training you obviously have to be already working in a school, either in a paid or voluntary capacity.
* Contact CACHE, 8 Chequer Street, St Albans, Herts AL1 3XZ (tel 01727 847636).
No obstacle to activities
'We'd like to develop our playgroup's programme for physical development and movement. We do not have access to an outdoor area but are based in a large hall. We have a small climbing frame and tricycles and want the children to be more energetic. Should we allow them to play with balls inside, and what other activities should we introduce?'
Jean Evans replies:
Children love the challenge of an obstacle course and this provides many contrasting opportunities to develop physical skills. Once you have tried a few combinations, involve the children so that they can contribute interesting ideas of their own. Make use of your small climbing frame, but not the tricycles, for safety reasons.
If you do not have beams for balancing then chalk lines, or ropes on the floor, should be adequate. Arrange wiggly and straight lines for children to walk along as a means of joining one part of the course to the other.
Use bean bags or screwed up balls of paper, as these are easier to control than real balls, and play a game involving aiming, perhaps throwing them into a plastic bucket or rolling them down a slope.
If equipment is not available then improvise, for example by draping a cover over a table so that children can crawl under. Stimulate the children's imaginations by having a theme such as a journey through a forest.
Why does she attack me?
'I work with a two-year-old toddler. She is always very good when I look after her during the day and she never cries or throws tantrums. But as soon as her mum comes home she starts crying and will sometimes get cross and attack me -things she'd never do when we're alone. Why does she do that and how should I react?'
Dr Richard Woolfson replies:
Some children have difficulty with transitions - in other words, they become unsettled when changing from one phase of the day to another. In this instance the switch from you as her sole carer to her mother's arrival unsettles her. This pattern of behaviour is probably more common than you think.
The two-year-old you care for needs your guidance in this situation. Make a point of warning her about five minutes before her mum comes home. Let her know that she'll be arriving very soon and encourage the child to prepare for her return by, for example, tidying toys.
It's important to do something specific that interrupts her activity at that time so that the first moment of change is not at the precise instant she sees her mother. Then talk positively about her mum coming home and tell your charge to give her mother a cuddle when she walks through the door.
Giving her clear advice on how to behave at that point reduces the likelihood that she'll express her distress at you. You'll find very quickly that she greets her mother appropriately and stops acting aggressively towards you.
Our panel of experts
Tricia Pritchard Professional officer at the Professional Association of Nursery Nurses (PANN), and chair of Playpen
Dr Richard Woolfson Regular contributor to Nursery World and child psychologist, well-known author and public speaker
Dr Pat Gilbert Doctor and author focusing on child health issues, with community paediatric experience
Meg Jones NVQ assessor and childcare and early years consultant following 40 years as a practitioner, manager and trainer Jean Evans Ofsted inspector, early years tutor and consultant, and longstanding contributor to Nursery World Audrey Curtis Educational consultant, CACHE external moderator and experienced early years teacher-trainer