What is a NNEB, CACHE level 3, NVQ level 3 or equivalent?

I'm posting a lot, I know. I just have so many questions...

I have been looking at job listings and am unsure of what to look for. I am a Kindergarten teacher here and have been looking for similar jobs in the UK. I don't know what I am supposed to be looking for but this comes up often "NNEB, CACHE level 3, NVQ level 3 or equivalent". What are those?

Here in Sweden there is technically no Kindergarten but I wrote that to specify the age that I work with 5-6 year olds. Children here do not begin elementary/primary school until age 7. Children attending any school before that from 1 years old up to 7 years old attend pre-school. Here I am called a "pre-school teacher" though the age group is what the US would consider Kindergarten and first grade. I have a degree in Education and studied an additional year here in Sweden to learn how the system works and also to compliment some courses that were required.

What is this position/job called in the UK? It seems that Child Minder is the wrong term. Am I looking in the wrong places?

Not sure how much help this will be but I found the following online:

http://www.parklanenannies.com/Nannies/NNEB.asp

http://www.learndirect-advice.co.uk/helpandadvice/whichcourse/vocqual/#nvq

It would appear that these are non-university level qualifications (I think the comparable might be vo-tech or community college in the US). Be very careful. A couple people on this site have found out that even if you have a PhD in your field or yeras of experience, some places are so regimented that if you don't have the NVQ or whatever, you will NOT be considered for the job.

Have you looked into supply teaching?

What is supply teaching?

I don't do it myself but I know at least one person on here does. I believe there are agencies that keep lists of qualified teachers. When schools have absences for teachers, they call the agency and the agency sends a teacher. You have to be able to work short notice obviously. I can't tell you how much work you'd got but I'm pretty sure you don't necessarily need all the certifications/degrees a permanent teacher would. Google 'supply teaching UK' and that will take you to a few sites that offer info and vacancy searches. I'm not sure but I think if you are a 'kindergarten' teacher, you might need to be searching for 'primary' vacancies and then narrow that down to the appropriate year (age).

suppy is what we call substitute teaching in the US....it is a good way to get your foot in the door...you sign up and are called out to fill in when a teacher is out. In the UK you would probably be looking at nursery school or primary age level. With a degree in education you might be able to expand to primary school--- depends on if you are set that you only want to work with the younger students.
http://www.teach.gov.uk/php/read.php?sectionid=134
This site might help with some tips of getting into teaching in the UK

Good Luck

Helena

I'm posting a lot, I know. I just have so many questions...

I have been looking at job listings and am unsure of what to look for. I am a Kindergarten teacher here and have been looking for similar jobs in the UK. I don't know what I am supposed to be looking for but this comes up often "NNEB, CACHE level 3, NVQ level 3 or equivalent". What are those?

NVQ's are non-degree qualifications, usually based on work experience.  I have an NVQ Level 2 in heritage services, but you can do them on practically any topic.  I did it in about a week and it was entirely based on work I had previously done at the museum.  I now have a little microsoft publisher cirtificate to prove I have done it.  They aren't worth much.  

Here in Sweden there is technically no Kindergarten but I wrote that to specify the age that I work with 5-6 year olds. Children here do not begin elementary/primary school until age 7. Children attending any school before that from 1 years old up to 7 years old attend pre-school. Here I am called a "pre-school teacher" though the age group is what the US would consider Kindergarten and first grade. I have a degree in Education and studied an additional year here in Sweden to learn how the system works and also to compliment some courses that were required.

Children in the UK start school at the age of 4 (sometimes as early as 3).  The first stage can be called '4 plus', 'foundation stage' or 'reception.'  I'm not sure if the names change when in Scotland.  After that they go into the 'infants' and then onto 'juniors.'

What is this position/job called in the UK? It seems that Child Minder is the wrong term. Am I looking in the wrong places?

I would look out for 'reception teacher' or something along these lines.  Someone with children who have gone through the system will probably know better than me, but this will get you started.

Okay thank you. I was looking in all the wrong places. When job listings came up as "child minder" at an hourly rate I started to get really confused. To me the term child minder sounds like babysitting which is a noble job but I was looking for something closer to what I do here. I am flexible though since I know all too well since moving here that you really have to broaden your search, and never rule out anything. Sorry to say (some of you might understand what I mean by this) but I have met some Americans living here in Sweden who complain that they cannot find jobs. The requirement to know the language here is very strong so one is very disadvantaged if you cannot speak Swedish. These particular individuals that I'm writing about would tell me that "they'd do anything". Then jobs would open up for hotel cleaning or working as a stock person in a grocery store and they'd turn them down. The reason given: "I'm not doing THAT." I always found this very snotty and irritating. Like I wrote earlier, never rule out anything. 

You will also see it called 'Early Years' teacher or 'Foundation Stage' teacher.  Both those terms refer to teaching 3-5 year olds.  In the English system 5-6 year olds are 'Year 1'

Level 3 NVQs etc are for teaching assistants and learning support workers.  Level 3 has considerably more respect/value than Level 2.

NVQ stands for National Vocational Qualification. My husband is a support worker and has these.  He has to go to training sessions every once in a while, and write reports on his work with clients.

Based on what you are describing I have those requirements plus some more. The problem for me is that they are based on my US education as well as my Swedish. In your estimates how well do they transfer over? I would probably go off my Swedish qualifications more than my US ones since the Swedish ones are more in tune with the the requirements within the UK system.

I think the idea of substituting is a wonderful one. It gets one's foot in the door as well. I'd have no problem doing that at all I would just hope for a permanent job in the future and hope that my qualifications are accepted.

When job listings came up as "child minder" at an hourly rate I started to get really confused. To me the term child minder sounds like babysitting

that's exactly what a child-minder is.

Do child minders also work in schools? I saw some job listings for child minders that worked with infants in a day care type setting. Here you have to have an education/qualifications to work with children of any age. Is this the same if one is a child minder in the UK?

P.S. Thanks Otterpop (love the nickname) you've been really helpful with my questions particularly the Scotland ones. 

Do child minders also work in schools? I saw some job listings for child minders that worked with infants in a day care type setting. Here you have to have an education/qualifications to work with children of any age. Is this the same if one is a child minder in the UK?

Im probably not the right person to answer this, because i dont have children, and try to stay as far away from children as possible (!), but i think a 'child minder' is just a babysitter...   If they had qualifications, and worked in a school type setting, i think they would be called something different.   

That's pretty funny about wanting to stay as far away from them as possible.

Yesterday my fiance and I were out shopping (at IKEA of all places) and the kids there were driving me nuts! They were like wild monkey's and their parents ignored all of it. I told my Swede that I can't stand it and that we had to leave. He said "but you should be used to it, you work with kids!" I said "no way, not THIS kind of behavior!"
I understand how you feel. We also have no kids and don't plan to either. 

My husband works with children with mental disabilities, and he has to be registered with the police.  I assume that you would have to go through some sort of check to work with any children.