Debbie Osborn
My name is Debbie and I have recently completed my Diploma in Early Years Child Care and Education (DCE) at Kensington and Chelsea College. I now work in the Kindergarten for a wonderful school in Chelsea with 3-4 year old children.
I absolutely love my job and the continuous challenges it offers. I am constantly observing, evaluating and planning for the children and feel extremely proud when they progress and achieve new things. Each day is different and is always great fun. It is an extremely satisfying job that I look forward to going to every day.
Before I qualified at Kensington and Chelsea College I had an array of different and interesting jobs, from working as a dealer's assistant in the banking industry to flying around the world as a flight attendant. I enjoyed these experiences but was never entirely satisfied in my career and knew that I really wanted to work with children.
I applied to Kensington and Chelsea College as they were very welcoming to mature students (I am now 28 and was 25 when I applied) and offered a wide variety of child care and education courses. Initially applied for an NVQ course, but after meeting one of the tutors she encouraged me to apply for the DCE course which was more advanced, suited my qualifications and would also provide more opportunities for me in the future.
The course was extremely detailed and challenging, and covered every aspect of working with children, parents and colleagues. It offers practical experience as well as theory in the classroom, all of which contribute to a well rounded and extremely thorough knowledge of the subject. I work as a teaching assistant in a school, but this qualification would enable me to work nursery nurse in a day nursery, as a maternity nurse, as a nanny or as a community nursery nurse to name but a few possible career paths!
The essay writing can be quite challenging, but learning about the various topics in detail is extremely interesting and will help you understand more about your new career. I made many good friends on the course that helped me through tough times, and the tutors are always on hand to help when needed.
This is an excellent course if you want a career working with children and is highly regarded by those in the industry. It is hard work, but I had great fun along the way and have learnt many new skills that I use on a daily basis in the work place.
