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earlyyears.teachwire.net
Developing
outstanding staff
Busy Bees Training’s
Fay Gibbin
explains how and why Busy Bees is
growing and upskilling its team and practitioners in the sector beyond...
T
he demand for early years
childcare in the UK is rising,
and quality providers are
having to pull out all the
stops in order to meet the
need for highly trained staff. At Busy
Bees we reap the benefits of growing
our own skilled workforce. We recruit
personalities, people who share our
values and vision, and believe that
by empowering our staff teams with
exceptional skills and knowledge, they
will inherit the company’s philosophy
and goals.
Our training strategy is aligned with
the projected growth and development
of the company. Robust recruitment and
talent management is essential to carry
out our plans, as is senior management
buy in and total staff commitment.
Everyone has to agree on what we’re
trying to achieve and understand what
success looks like. To us, a successful,
sustainable nursery is one that has an
experienced manager at the helm and
an ever-replenishing supply of devoted,
creative childcare practitioners at every
level, committed to providing better
outcomes for every child. Of course, it
goes without saying, ultimate success is
a nursery full of healthy, happy, engaged
children and content, happy parents.
Therefore, as we grow, our number
one challenge is to fill our nurseries with
the ‘right people’. Our strategy is simple:
we grow our own. We train and nurture
talent, continuously. We’re fortunate
to be in the unique position of being
able to train in-house with government
funding and approval to deliver a
range of courses through the Awarding
Organisation Skillsfirst. But we need to
keep looking for our future shining stars
so that we can create an ever-flowing
pipeline of talent.
THE RIGHT
QUALIFICATIONS
In a competitive employment market
saturated with young, qualified and
ambitious job-seekers, the childcare
industry has to provide attractive
training opportunities and interesting
and varied career development paths to
16–18-year-olds. But it’s imperative that
Training Manager
Fay Gibbin currently
oversees 1,000
learners who are
undertaking a
childcare, management or nursery
catering apprenticeship as well as
over 25 short courses delivered on a
quarterly basis over seven locations.
HANDS-ON
TRAINING
Busy Bees Training (part of the
Busy Bees childcare group)
has delivered its apprenticeship
programme to over 1,600 learners
so far, within both Busy Bees
nurseries and smaller, independent
nursery settings. To date the
programme has recruited over
500 school leavers and upskilled a
further 1,100 Busy Bees employees.
By the end of 2016 it is anticipated
there will be around 1,500 learners
on an apprenticeship delivered by
Busy Bees Training Academy.
we are attracting the personalities that
will cope with the responsibility, and rise
to the daily challenges, of caring for, and
educating, young children.
It is important that those who
dedicate their lives to working with
children achieve good results in English
and maths, and we are committed to
helping those individuals who did not
reach the required levels in school for
whatever reason. However, it is equally
important that childcare practitioners
gain academic and practical industry-
appropriate qualifications, and receive
continual training that supports them to
deliver the very best childcare and early
years education.
The value of training is twofold: it
enables companies that are looking to
grow to upskill their workforce, and it
offers employees empowerment, career
progression and financial rewards. As a
company that is forecast for continuous
growth in the UK and further expansion
overseas, the career opportunities at
Busy Bees are numerous.
