Ok, this is my problam. I have been in childcare for over 13yrs now, i have worked in schools, nurserys and as a nanny. i have come to a point in my life (i'm 29) where i dont know what to do now!!!! i am in a job now that i like but not getting anywhere with it. i want something different to challange me, cause i get board very fast. But like i said i dont know how to do anything different but child care. Any suggestions??

you can pretty much do anything in life if you put your mind to it and are prepared to put in the hard work...

take me for example... whilst at uni i did door to door sales for 3 and a half years... my degree was in accountancy... i then ended up working in IT support for 5 years whilst also working as a foster carer... yet now i am a hockey coach, landscape photographer and writer... oh and i do graphic design on the side.

all you need is a a dream and the determination to catch it...

sounds good but i have a family a husband who is self emplotey, childcare to pay, a morgage, bills etc, so i cant afford to be out of work to study anything new.

i taught myself photography and graphic design... all i mean is that if you find something that you want to do... go for it!

If you have an affinity with childcare- why not retrain as a teacher and get paid a bursary to help cover the costs of retraining? Full time training through Sheffield Hallam University takes a year to get to QTS standard, and there's a bursary of up to £9000, and all fees are covered by the local authority.

Right. I don't know the answers, and I cannot comment realistically since my own track record is similar to yourself. Kind of stuck at the cross-road at the moment, and unsure of which path to take.

I've brain-stormed a lot for a long while. So here's what I can think of, off the top of my head.

Thinking laterally, you can do several things. Instead of changing entirely from what you're always known, you can take side steps. Do you fancy setting up your own business ? Your own nursery, or your own babysitting services ? Or... go into academia and do research ? Or help within research areas for children ? You can do a lot of things. Like part-time work, along side studies. Which is the hard way really. Part-time work = host children's parties (cos u know how to handle them by now), babysitting, part-time nanny, basic admin in schools etc. What about children's clothes designing ? (Maybe such markets are not great in Sheffield alone, but u gotta extend it nationally.)

Thats good advice bago, i would love to set up my ownursery or creche, or something similer but i havet got a clue how to start or even the money for that matter

Ok.. go to places like Business Link, or your local DTI for any advice in setting up a business. Most small businesses get loans from the bank.

If you have an affinity with childcare- why not retrain as a teacher and get paid a bursary to help cover the costs of retraining? Full time training through Sheffield Hallam University takes a year to get to QTS standard, and there's a bursary of up to £9000, and all fees are covered by the local authority.

I'd say this would be a great option - you wouldn't even have to go back to uni if you did the Graduate Teacher Training scheme - thats what i did and got paid £17,000 for the year I trained and am on considerably more than that now...If you want anymore info feel free to PM me...

If you didn't fancy teaching how about being a Learning Mentor (£16k+) or a Teaching Assistant(£11k+) - just think of the school holidays!

If you have an affinity with childcare- why not retrain as a teacher and get paid a bursary to help cover the costs of retraining? Full time training through Sheffield Hallam University takes a year to get to QTS standard, and there's a bursary of up to £9000, and all fees are covered by the local authority.


Depends on whether or not you have a degree already, if you dont it takes alot longer, for example im doing a 3yr Hons degree with QTS for which you dont get the £9k bursary.

Have you thought about taking the next step and training to be a paediatric nurse?

I believe you have to get a nursing degree and do the normal nurse training, but paediatrics is extra. I don't think you could get bored in that job, because every child is so different, and there are so many childhood illnesses to cover. It is also very rewarding.

Later on, you will have the option to either stay on the wards or go out into the community.

Going along the same lines as Bago suggested, why not consider taking a part-time home-study course in something like child nutrition, psychology, infant massage ect ect. There are loads of ways you can make your solid childcare background work for you.

I think you need to be thinking in terms of what you are good at and what you enjoy. Why not try brainstorming the best bits of your job on a piece of paper. Those are probably your stengths too, so those are the areas you need to be moving towards.

I found myself in a similar situation a while ago. I graduated with a journalism degree, got my first job at a local paper, and hated it. Moved onto working for the national press, and hated it. Then moved onto women's magazines. Guess what... I hated it! Became a features editor, and realised that something I did enjoy was writing about health issues. At this point I was considering throwing in the towel and changing career completely, but I thought I'd give it one last shot, so I became a specialist health reporter. And now, it's much better. I'm actually starting to enojy my job, for the first time since I graduated!

I have been in administration since leaving school but when we moved to Sheffield 4 years ago I got interested in working with families, esp those with children who were going through difficulties - I decided to do some volunteerings with Home-Start (working with families in difficulties with kids under 5) which gave me experience and training and then went on to get a job as a support worker with social services because of the voluntary experience that I had - again working with families and children - so why not consider doing some volunteering - you find out if you enjoy it and also may receive training which can count to a job, even though you have no paid experience.