College awards childcare champions
Monday 3rd of December 2012
The Children’s Place nursery at Dewsbury District Hospital was hailed as Outstanding Placement Provider of the year at Kirklees College’s annual award ceremony for childhood studies, as well as rewarding 170 students for their achievements in 2011-12.
Nina Longley with the award at The Children's Place, Dewsbury. Image courtesy of Dewsbury Reporter.
The college’s childhood studies department works with a wide range of local employers to offer work placements to students on vocational courses at the college. Around half of the college’s childcare students are already in employment in a wide range of settings, including schools, nurseries, crèches and Sure Start centres.
The Children’s Place at Dewsbury District Hospital was nominated for Outstanding Placement Provider because of the high quality professional support that each student placed with them receives.
Alison Dews, placement monitoring officer at the college, nominated the nursery. She said, “The Children’s Place take on the role in a responsible manner and are always welcoming and friendly.
“Each year we like to pay particular recognition to an employer that we feel has gone that extra mile to support our students and to work with the college towards student success. The Children’s Place maintains excellent contact with us to discuss any issues or problems, and work with the college to resolve these. This approach to working together results in students being monitored effectively and feeling supported in their work placement setting.”
On the night, former Kirklees College childhood studies student, Nina Longley, now the designated student supervisor at the Children’s Place, accepted the award. Nina had studied as both a further education and higher education student at the college.
Children’s Place Director David Burke said, ‘We are absolutely delighted to have received this award from Kirklees College. As a company we are passionate about inspiring and motivating our staff and students. We believe that to ensure that every child who comes through our doors gets early years experiences that last a lifetime, we need to empower our staff to understand the importance of the work that they do. This award is a massive achievement for the staff in our nurseries that work so hard to role model good practice.’
Curriculum team leader for childhood studies, Philippa Mitchell said, “Nina is a shining example of the successful careers our learners can look forward to once they gain their qualification. It seems very fitting that she has received the award on behalf of such an excellent organisation.”
Each year around 450 students take childhood studies courses ranging from CACHE Level 1 Diploma in Caring for Children to Foundation Degree in Young Children’s Learning and Development.
