Posted: 15/05/18
Childcare challenge brings success
Children’s story-telling and interactive displays were the themes in a regional childcare competition entered by two West Nottinghamshire College students – earning one of them a prized second place.
Bringing their Level 2 Childcare skills to the test Tristan Jones and Britney Rayner, both 17, worked alongside five other colleges - South Staffordshire College, South Leicestershire College, The Sheffield College, North Warwickshire and Hinckley College, and South and City College Birmingham at the Childcare Skills Champion Competition, held at North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College on Friday 27 April.
Sponsored by the Council for Awards in Care, Health and Education - the UK's leading provider of vocational qualifications for those working in the care and education sectors, the competition comprised of two categories.
Students were challenged during the morning session to plan and prepare an interactive display based on the subject of healthy eating.
Britney Rayner said: “We had to create a display that would be easy for young children to access and understand, using food items that could be moved around the food boards. This was all judged by people in the childcare industry and training arena and it was quite nerve-wracking.”
Both Britney and Tristan were placed in pairings with other students from other organisations.
The second part of the challenge was to put their story-telling into practice, with youngsters aged from three to five, all based at North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire’s College nursery. The story of Handa’s Surprise, by Eileen Brown, was given to competitors at the start of the day, giving them time to prepare, learn the characters and practice with toy props.
Tristan said: “We had to bring all our skills into practice, such as knowing how to engage the children in the story using appropriate tone and expression. It was daunting working with new colleagues but a great challenge and I was absolutely thrilled to come second out of the whole regional competition!”
Tristan and Britney’s tutor Kath Allsop said: “To say I am proud of them both is an understatement. Both worked really hard and they networked well with students from other colleges and made some good friends.
“Most of the other competitors were Level 3 students so to see my Level 2 students working confidently and competently amongst them was brilliant.
“Tristan’s second place is well-earned as he is such a professional and he’s really thriving out on his work placement at St Edmund’s Primary School in Mansfield Woodhouse. He’s already been offered an apprenticeship there and I have no doubt he’ll do well.”
