Pros
-Comparatively high standards of childcare in many areas - many staff really care about children and child development and genuinely want to do their best by them -I can put 'worked for an Ofsted rated outstanding nursery' on my CV -Very good resources -Learn a lot about the EYFS -Forced to stand up for yourself a lot against immature staff, you'll grow in confidence -Opportunities to lead -Sensory room is nice -Opportunity to take time off in lieu or be paid when you work weekends -High staff turnover means career opportunities do arise
Cons
-Ofsted first, parents second, children and staff last - don't work for a chain -Management do not give a crap - many staff never signed contracts, it can take months to sort out the simplest thing like getting a new uniform or a lightbulb and yet they often leave early and boast about not working for the last hour of every day -Staff not respected by management, not allowed to change rooms if unhappy -After complaining to HR about bullying and management not allowing me to move rooms, HR sent me back to management, who again told me I couldn't move rooms and sent me to my room leader, who told me "that's life" -Bullying is common - have met a former employee who described themselves as suicidal. I've learnt that Kiddi Caru nurseries have a reputation in my area for producing bad apples among staff, which damaged me when applying for new jobs -Management rumoured to use nannycams in sensory room, have heard of stealing in staff rooms, I've seen girls steal from the kitchens and different nurseries within the chain can have different policies that the manager comes up with, enforces and then doesn't check actually work: there are some crazy, immoral ideas out there -The website boasts of 'fresh food' and 'French lessons' for the children and 'manual handling and health and safety courses' for all staff - all lies -You will do more paperwork here than you have ever done in early years childcare (the better the Ofsted rating, often the more paperwork), and you will spend less time with the children -The nurseries are seriously over-subscribed, because money comes first, so some children are being pushed up to older rooms two or three times a week whether they're ready for it or not -Management will criticize if you are not constantly up-to-date with paperwork while also spending time enough time with all the children to look good for Ofsted, as well as expecting you to keep on top of planning/housekeeping - the paperwork is a full-time job on its own, so again, management do not care and the children suffer -No sick pay -Low pay - the high end chains always seem to pay badly -Training opportunities do arise but they are mostly uncredited, you have to get to Basingstoke and pay for it yourself, you'll have to ask to do training rather than be approached and management tend to wait til you've been with the company for a year rather than take a risk on you (prob because so many leave within a year)
