Staff
Our staff are recruited on the basis of the personal qualities that they
can bring to the Nursery team. A genuine warmth and caring attitude
is essential to understanding the needs of each child. This
must be accompanied by a dedicated commitment to pursuing professional
standards of the highest quality.
Play Away staff hold a range of
professional
qualifications, including NNEB, B-Tec, NVQ3 and CACHE Diploma in
Childcare. These are the minimum requirements sought for qualified
staff.
Our staff undergo a rigorous system of vetting and references and
all have Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau Checks. In addition, our
induction process includes a 3 month probation period, and only after completion of
successful probation are staff then able to carry out the full duties
as contained in their job description.
As a company our staff retention levels are extremely high and we
actively encourage staff to pursue additional training. Our policy
is to promote
where possible in the first instance from within the Nursery group.
In-house training for staff ranges from First Aid, Health
and Safety and
Fire Safety
to Baby Massage and curriculum courses. Our ratios exceed those laid
down by Ofsted who also require that 50% of staff should be relevantly
qualified
in chid care. Across the Play Away Group, we have 97% of staff qualified,
with the remainder currently completing training curriculum courses designed to develop additional skills.
‘Leadership and management of the Nurseries is very good. The management
and staff are committed to the care and education of the children. Effective
systems are in place for the assessment and development of staff and
training is actively encouraged. Strategies are in place to continually
improve the quality of provision.’
Ofsted Inspection Report (2004)
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