A GOVERNMENT U-turn in GCSE requirements for nursery nurses is set to open up dream careers for teenagers wishing to work in early years education.

This month, the early years sector has welcomed government minister Caroline Dinenage’s decision to reinstate functional skills as alternatives to GCSEs in English and maths for level-three qualifications.

This decision will open doors to thousands of students preparing to leave school this June and has, in particular, has been a dream come true for level-two qualified nursery nurse Megan Baron.

Megan, who has just turned 18 and lives in Verdun Avenue, Walney, was forced to give up her dream job of working with, caring for and inspiring pre-school children in December last year, when she was unable to progress to level three without a maths and English GCSE.

Megan had begun her apprenticeship at the Old Vicarage Day Nursery in Hartington Street, Barrow, and had hoped to go on to become a fully-qualified room supervisor. She said: “When I was told I had to give up my apprenticeship at The Old Vicarage, I was devastated. I love working with children so much and each day at work taught me something new. I had always struggled with exams at school but, working in early years education, I think it is practical and functional skills which are more important.”

The Old Vicarage Day Nursery’s childcare manager Gayle Cooke said: “We knew that Megan was a superstar apprentice as soon as she started here with us at the Vicarage. Megan is incredibly kind, patient, creative and capable with young children.

“When it became clear that Megan would not be able to progress on to level three because of her academic qualifications, we were devastated for her. In this job, functional and practical skills are integral. Knowing how to nurture and care for the children and how to practically tackle any situation the day throws at them is what the staff here need to know - not how to do algebra.

“We want to be able to offer students the chance to learn with us as they work and get paid for it too. We take on the majority of our fully-qualified staff from the pool of apprentices that we have trained ourselves; we put a lot of emphasis on grass roots in this company.

“When my fellow manager, Charlotte Richards, and I were training Megan, we could immediately see that a nursery nurse with her qualities would be exactly what we would look for in a key member of staff.”

The move to bring back functional skills is a response to overwhelming pressure from the early years sector, which has faced a growing recruitment crisis since the 2014 requirement for level-three early years educator staff to hold GCSEs above grade C in maths and English.

The new requirements, which came in to full force during the first week of April, have enabled apprentice Megan to return to her work at the Old Vicarage Day Nursery. She said: “I am absolutely delighted to be back. I really missed seeing the children every day.

“My favourite thing about the job is watching the children learn and grow and seeing the impact I am able to have on their lives.

“I enjoy working in the pre-school with the three- and four-year-old children most. I learned almost everything I know from Holly Shaw, who supervises the Blackbird classroom.

“Holly is an amazing mentor. She is only a few years older than I am myself and she started here in the company as an apprentice, so she is a great role model to aspire to. I hope to work hard and become a qualified nursery nurse and classroom supervisor like Holly one day.”

With the pressure of GCSE examinations becoming more and more pronounced each year, this educational reform is being seen as an encouraging step for pupils who do not perform well in exam conditions.

The increasing emphasis on apprenticeships which has been brought about by the government will hopefully continue to get more young people into the workplace and reduce the amount of debt created by paying students as they learn.

This step is especially encouraging because it indicates just how much functional and practical skills are valued, and can put students’ minds at rest - not being academic in school does not have to define you for the rest of your life.

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MORE than 9,000 childcare places are to be created as part of a £50m boost for early learning.

The money will fund capital grants in order to help nurseries, pre-schools and playgroups invest in new buildings and upgrade facilities.

A further £5m is to go to organisations helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds, or with additional needs, to access early education.

Minister for the early years, Caroline Dinenage said: "This investment will deliver more childcare places to working parents, giving them the benefits of 30 hours free childcare while giving their children high-quality early education that sets them up for life.

"This is backed by our record £6bn investment in childcare per year by 2020."

However, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, expressed concern about government progress in achieving its ambition to provide working families with 30 hours of free childcare from September.

"While extra funding to support the 30-hour offer is, of course, welcome, a further 9,000 childcare places for a scheme that government says requires 390,000 in total - and we estimate requires 500,000 - simply isn't going to address the very valid concerns that have been raised about the viability of the scheme.

"With less than half of childcare providers currently committed to delivering 30-hours places, and many of those opting into the scheme considering limiting the number of places they deliver, we know that capacity is going to be a real issue when the offer rolls out in September - and the fact that this additional money has now been found suggests the government does too."