Happy Kids, an independent pre-school based in the grounds of Winchcombe School in the heart of Newbury, prides itself on providing a safe and friendly childcare environment tailored to the individual needs of children. As children learn through play, exploration and first-hand experiences, Happy Kids provides an environment that allows them to use their senses, imagination and previous experiences to support their learning.
Ofsted requires all staff working in pre-schools to be trained in paediatric first aid. Happy Kids ensures all of its staff are up to date with their training, but it can be a time consuming process. Kim Whelehan, Happy Kids Pre-school Manager, explains: When staff attend courses on an individual basis, we have to change rotas and arrange cover; it can be very disruptive for the other staff and children. It's far more valuable for us as an employer if the whole team can attend a course together at the same time.
Happy Kids uses Newbury College's in-house training service, where courses are delivered at a time convenient to the employer, such as evenings, weekends or during the school holidays. Deputy Manager, Sharon Dumelow, is very positive about this method of delivery: Having the trainer deliver at our premises is much easier and, because we've been using this service for a while, the trainer has got to know our staff and ethos well.
The familiarity means we are all relaxed and this helps us feel comfortable enough to ask the questions we perhaps would be afraid to if we were on our own. I've been on courses where it's just me attending from here, and I feel we benefit much more from a group approach.
We also offer parents the opportunity to join us on our courses. This is great for them because they can increase their skills and it makes the training more cost effective for us too.
Emily Chandler, Business Development Executive at Newbury College, recommends this approach to other settings: Training providers need to meet the needs of busy employers. Offering nationally-recognised qualifications delivered at individual premises is a good example of how the College is adapting its work with employers.
We see that once a setting has benefited from this approach, they continue to come back to us for more of the same. The quality of the courses remains unchanged, we use the same trainers and materials from our open courses but, without a doubt, there is a benefit to all parties when our trainers get to deliver with teams this way.
For more information about Newbury College's bespoke training and in-house delivery, contact the Business Team on 01635 845229 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.