How many of you have done a level 2 ? - Silkysteps early years forum

tutu · #1 03-30-2009, 07:39 PM

and if not why not? i am just interested as i start my round if interviews for the sept intake why people who dont know the basics of child development, observations, health and safety, theorists etc. etc. dont do the underpinning level 2 first? are you offered it? do you think you don't need it? do you think you know enough already?
i am honestly interested as many of the questions asked here are so basic and covered really well in level 2 that it seems that many have been out on courses they are not suitable for. like taking your practical driving test without ever driving a car!
my college offers the level 2 to anyone without a qualification and if they want to do a level 3 then they have to demonstrate good underpinning knowledge pre course as the l3 curriculum assumes a good knowledge and there is no tie allowance to get people up to speed.

SamHill · #2 03-30-2009, 08:19 PM

I did a level 2 certificate in pre-school practice, which I completed 2 years ago and in September was offered a chance to do L3 for free from my local college (at 41 years old, I jumped at the chance of a free course!). 2 colleagues were offered the L3 too - one who has a childcare qualification she earned at school (not sure what level) and one who has worked with special needs adults (has a L2 and L3 social care course, I think). Only the 2nd one continued and has just about finished as well. The first one dropped out due to family commitments.

I think the knowledge and experience I gained from doing the L2 and through working both helped to make this a much easier process. Am hoping to do the L4 in September, and realise this will probably be much harder work as I have not held a management post but am kind of covering a maternity leave deputy manager at the moment, so am trying hard to learn as much as I can in this time and consolidate my knowledge prior to starting.

Sam

tutu · #3 03-30-2009, 08:53 PM

the perfect training path! tho the 4 is for people who manage people budgets resources etc. why not go for a foundations degree instead cos unless your doing a management job the 4 isnt really worth anything where as a degree......

SomeoneSpecial · #4 03-30-2009, 09:04 PM

i did gcse child care and got A* grew up around many children as my mom and grandparents fostered, looking after children and knowing the basic stuff was like second nature to me by time i got to sixth form. so i skipped level 2 because it would be far too easy and i did level 3 right away, I knew most of it before i started and got A's on every assignment and AAA overall.

I think when you have already got the experiance of working with children and everything you dont need to do level 2. I enjoyed level 3 a lot and still like to use what i know to help others on here and I like to keep learning.

dkredbaron · #5 03-30-2009, 09:15 PM

I did level 2 and was advised to do it that way.glad i did as i completed level 3 in 5 months if i hadnt done level 2 first i think level 3 would have taken me alot longer.now going on to level 4 to help me learn more as a pre-school leader.

icklemand · #6 03-30-2009, 09:42 PM

I finished my level 2 last year (July) and was advised to wait 6months before beginning my level 3 which I started in February, am so glad that I did it this way as I think you need the knowledge from Level 2 to work out how to build a portfolio and how to cross reference work.

Brandy · #7 03-30-2009, 09:45 PM

I did the introduction to preschool practice which i think was part of a level 2 then i did the cache diploma in preschool practice which was level 3 then i did the ccld level 4 and i am now doing the A1 assessor qualification
I have also done lots of short courses which i think help further your knowledge and understanding of various areas of development.curriculum, health and safety etc.

cabin · #8 03-30-2009, 10:45 PM

In our area if you have no qualifactions you are funded - they 'recommend' a L2, fair enough and agree with this..... HOWEVER once you have a L2 and want to move on-they say you're qualified and if you want to do level three you have to self-fund!!!!!!!!!! Because of this people try to get straight onto L3 as this will be funded - not ideal but I can see why they do it.
Hoping it's going to change back this year - they've had loads of complaints.
xx

#9 03-31-2009, 08:32 PM

Hi, I didn't do L2, and boy am I glad, as half of my L3 class done L2 and wish they didnt bother, most of the work is repeated from L2, as the tutor had the class working at Level 3 standard last year.
I sat the entry exam and we also had to do an essay on, you, your family and interests. This was then looked at to see what level the college felt right for you.
Have not found L3 that bad at all, its just time thats an issue.

carriesmad · #10 04-01-2009, 07:52 PM

I've got 4 years experience as a childminder and done lots of short courses so was advised by my network coordinator to go straight to level 3 cos my experience should be sufficient to bypass level 2. found it a challenge but in a good way, only hard thing is finding the time to do it when working full time.