Have you ever thought about a career in Early Years?

The Early Years Sector is a rewarding and vitally important sector which needs high quality staff at all levels. There are many exciting career options available, whether you are looking to work full-time, part-time or on a voluntary basis, with plenty of opportunities for training and progression.

If you have enthusiasm and enjoy working with young children and want to play a key role in supporting children’s learning and development, this could be the career for you.

The Early Years and Childcare Service can provide you with information about the different roles within early years, qualifications and training pathways and where to look for the latest jobs.

Contact us for a copy of our ‘Working in early years and childcare’ booklet  which has been designed to help you to make a more informed choice about your career options so that you feel confident about what steps to take next.

For Information on jobs, qualifications and training routes visit: www.devon.gov.uk/eycs, email: natalie.elston@devon.gov.uk or phone: 01392 385398.

Balloons

Balloons services are available to all pre and post bereaved children and young people who live in Exeter, Mid and East Devon Districts and who are aged between 3 and 18 years of age. They will have experienced the death (or are experiencing the imminent death) of someone significant in their lives.

Grieving children and young people share their experiences with volunteer Grief Support Workers as they move through their grieving and healing process. Balloons takes account of their emotional, spiritual, social and physical needs.

The children and young people attend school or college in Balloons catchment area. They are referred by education, social care or health professionals, by families or neighbours, and they can self refer. Before the first contact is made, the child or young person will be made aware of the referral, and they must be happy to be involved with Balloons.

It is evidenced that bereavement at an early age can cause many reactions in children, either at the time of the death or later in their lives. Teenage pregnancy, anti social behaviour, and failed studies can be the result of a bereavement which has not been dealt with. Positive and timely intervention will minimise this negative response.

In a pre bereavement situation, before the death of someone close, a Grief Support Worker will ensure that communication channels within a family remain open, and that all family members involved fully understand the emotional roller coaster the child or young person is experiencing. This enables the family to work together through an incredibly difficult time.

About 1,800 children and young people living in Exeter, Mid and East Devon are experiencing the death of someone close to them at any one time.

There are also other volunteering opportunities available to get involved with this fantastic charity.

One young person wrote to Balloons:

I think that Balloons helped me understand what happened and the activities we did were very helpful. I enjoyed the 6 weeks we met for and I found it very creative and enjoyable for myself. It also helped me take my mind off the situation and helped me overcome and talk about it, which I think would help me in the future. Aged 13

Fancy doing some volunteering?

Voluntary work is a great way to learn new skills, make friends, and build your confidence, as well as adding to your CV and giving you a recent reference.  If you’re considering a career change, it can be a perfect way to try out a new role and show potential employers how dedicated you are to the new career.

There are lots of fantastic opportunities to get involved with volunteering.  The Do-it website is a great place to start.  If you’re already involved with a local organisation that you’d like to support, then you could ask them directly about volunteering opportunities.  Pre-schools, playgroups, schools, and Children’s Centres often need all kinds of volunteers, from receptionists, to gardeners, as well as roles that are more involved, such as playwork or breastfeeding peer support.  Most charitable organisations will be looking for people to help out with fundraising – from selling raffle tickets, to events organisation.

Here are some organisations that we have identified that offer voluntary positions that we think will be of interest to Mums in particular:

Home Start is a national charity, supporting families that are finding it difficult to cope.

Balloons is an Exeter based charity, supporting children who are dealing with bereavement

Real Nappy Advisors help new Mums get to grips with reusable nappies.  In many areas this involves providing a trial kit for a month and supporting the parents in using the nappies and deciding on the best options for them.  This goes well alongside a real nappy retail business, as the family is then offered a discount voucher if they buy from you (refunded to you by the local council).  Read blog posts from local nappy brand, Eccobots, and retailer, The Natural Nursery.

Breastfeeding Peer Supporters help new Mums deal with the many issues they can face with breastfeeding.  They can volunteer within Children’s Centre groups, and in hospital maternity wards in some areas.  Training is usually undertaken through the local Children’s Centre, and locally has been done through Healthy Babies UK.

Have you done any voluntary work?  What sort of voluntary work would you consider doing?

Inverteign Family Learning Centre

The Inverteign Family Learning Centre was set up more than ten years ago, to provide training to parents of pupils at Teignmouth Community School and the wider local community.  They provide free maths, english and ICT training, and even have a free creche for parents with younger children.  It is a really friendly community centre, providing a much needed service for many parents.

We went up to the centre this Thursday to do an Easter bunting workshop with some of the Mums that use the centre, and to introduce the services that Opportunity Plus South West and Flexi-Mum can offer.