I still wasn’t sure what the routine was, so I was advised by Mrs Rusha to just communicate with the children and get to know them. When I heard this I imagined an easy and fun day playing with the children. How wrong could I have been?
After a brief wait, the toddlers finally arrived and I was surprised to see how mature and organised they were. They all entered one by one, took their Velcro names off the wall and onto a chart (to show their attendance) then sat down silently on the carpet while their parents waved goodbye. I was stunned because at my nursery I had come in with my parents and screamed my head off when they left! I was still standing with my mouth wide open when I was introduced to everyone.
The children didn’t seem to notice I was even there but I was informed later on by another member of the nursery staff that so many people are involved in their lives that they don’t take much notice. Although I was relieved, as I thought it would mean no emotional attachments, I was also quite disappointed because I knew my absence would not be missed by any of them at the end of my time there.
After registration had been called it was official playtime for an hour. Playtime involved several tables set up with different activities that would help with certain subjects. For example on the maths table there could be plastic shapes for the children to play with or even simple counting games for them to do. Each table was changed every day to a set plan recorded the week before. I found it almost impossible to keep up with the plan. In fact I don’t believe I actually managed to successfully change an activity on a table without annoying several teachers along the way! There was also a sand pit and water trough that was kept up everyday as they were extremely popular.
Watching the children play was a great experience for me. The way they interacted with each other was like an alien language to me but it was very interesting and terribly sweet! I couldn’t help but find myself getting absorbed into their innocent minds by chatting randomly about anything that had happened to them the day before. The time, however, did not seem to fly and I was more than happy when they were finally called to clean up and start their snack. Doing this was good for me as it gave me a job of cleaning all the sand from the floor and checking everyone was eating their fruit properly. This became a job I took on for myself everyday as I felt I wasn’t given enough to do elsewhere.
After snack everyone had to clean up to get an hours play in the adjoining garden before being able to go home. That was the routine I followed twice a day for the two weeks, as there was a morning and afternoon group.
During the first day, nothing of great interest seemed to happen. I was quoted by a girl in the afternoon as having ‘big legs that way’ while being gestured to the sky and I discovered the route to the staff room but other than that I seemed to have settled into the working habit pretty quickly. By the time I got home I was exhausted. I felt like I had run a marathon even though the working day was only half an hour longer than a school day and I had taken part in no physical activity. Mum claimed that being with children was much more difficult than people realized. It certainly opened my eyes to the teachers around me that have to deal with us every day!
As the week wore on I found myself almost enjoying the effortless days yet also wishing I had slightly more to do. I always got the feeling from my two supervisors that they had done this job for so many years that they felt they didn’t need me. I felt that I was continually offering my help but not to any great success. As lazy as I am though, I guess it was almost my perfect two weeks as I soon learnt that a staff training day was due on the Friday and a strike was happening the next Monday. An eight day fortnight, wonderful!
My worst moment was during the first week when a certain boy nearly emptied his stomach contents over my leg at the same time that a boy expected me to clean his ‘accident’ up. When three other teachers were in the room I felt it almost typical that all the drama happened to me, the only individual who didn’t have a clue what to do! Mrs Rusha was very nice, though, and offered to help claiming this to be the norm.
The greatest trouble I had was keeping my confidence up throughout the placement. Especially when conducting the interview as done in my work experience booklet. Talking to the staff during lunchtime was also quite difficult for me as I had to be careful about what I said so it didn’t backfire on my mum or the school. She had given me advice beforehand, though, and explained my responsibility so I knew to be cautious of what I said and did.
The final day was definitely the one most likely to stay in my memory the longest. A ‘Sponsored Bounce’ had been set up in the hall and as I was the youngest student, with exception to the actual toddlers, I had the honour of going with them. This was an annual set up by the parents association of two large bouncy castles for every child in the school. Admist the cries of delight and some cries of complete fear from the toddlers you could faintly hear the sound of a six foot girl laughing hysterically. It was great fun and I eventually dragged the other teachers onto it so that everyone was enjoying themselves. I also got given an easter egg as a thank you which was touching for me as I’d felt I hadn’t actually done much.
I hope my presence was valued by someone there and that I might have taught a child something they’ll never forget. The experience certainly taught me a lot, from helping me find out what teachers get up to outside the classroom to finding out how tough it really is for nurseries to deal with new Government issues all the time. (E.g. a new jollyphonics scheme must now be taught in every British nursery). I got a real insight into working with children and I found that although the children are different and exciting every day, the job isn’t. I couldn’t see myself becoming a nursery teacher as I need more challenges and a better chance of progression in my job. I absolutely admire teachers now and I’ve decided that a job concerning both children and sport could be something I’m really interested in. For now however I intend to get to university for a sports science degree and to keep my options open.
