[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by rubymoo

You can get some mature 18 year olds and immature 18 year olds, she seems immature. I was gaining a qualification in Children and Young Peoples Workforce, i'm 40, i've had my children (they're 14 now) and i consider myself to be a good parent, however for someone like me to try to break into child care has become impossible, nurseries are full of apprentices, on the lowest wage, some of the nurseries i've volunteered at depend almost entirely on apprentices, and when these apprentices are 16+ years old they have no previous knowledge or experience looking after little ones. Children are challenging, full of energy, have a thirst for learning and knowledge, there's more children than ever being diagnosed with additional needs, and i do question whether i would be happy to leave my baby with a 16+ year old, and now the government have bought in the fact that you need GCSE's grade A-C in maths and English, surely lifeskills and knowledge and a positive fun attitude are more important when working with children.

I didn't need any grades to have my children!

I feel sorry for the girl, she was reckless and stupid, but then she's only 18 and will learn from this experience.

It's crazy that they're overlooking a 40 year old who's raised children in favour of a 16 year old Ruby (and this is not meant to be a slight on 16 year olds) but I know for me personally the older I got raising my own children the more laid back and patient I became. Also,I completely agree with the last part of your post