Problems with booking paediatric First Aid,help !!!

[tetti]

Ok,have a little dilemma here !My certificate has expired and the local council has no courses available until Sept due to cuts in their budget,and those dates available in Sept I can't attend as I cannot find childcare for those dates (single parent and child's father is away surfing for 3 weeks then,lucky for some !)
I have found a St John's Ambulance first aid course beginning Oct 1,but of course,that leaves me working 3 months without a valid certificate !
Yes,I do know what to do in case of an emergency,all I really need is the certificate to show that I do.
So,called Ofsted who said I'll have to send them a notification of this (that my certificate has expired and proof that I have booked a space on this course) and they will take it from there,but they cannot guarantee that I will be allowed to continue work until I get my certificate.Seriously,this is such a nightmare ! Has anyone else ever been in the same boat ?

[nelly]

im the same, mines run out in may and i told my early years team 2 months before it run out and i still cant get on one ? having to be on waiting list .she said thats fine tho ! xx

[tetti]

It is such a nightmare,isn't it ? When something's beyond your control you really should not have to be punished for it.You are lucky they understand your situation I have an inspection coming up anytime now,and I don't think the inspector would be too happy should she see that mine has expired xx

[littletreasures]

Whereabouts are you?

I know of one 16th and 23rd July near Sutton, Surrey if that's any good to you?

[Zoomie]

Sorry, but you have known for 3 years exactly when your certificate is expiring, so i really think that there is no excuse to not get yourself onto a course. if the council don't have spaces / courses, then you have had ample time to have booked with a private firm.

I attended my first aid the last two weekends, 5 months before my existing certificate expires, because i didn't want to risk the council / courses having spaces in sept / oct.

and i am sure you could find childcare, with another minder or nursery, or a family friend, at the very least.

Forward planning .....

[tetti]

Excuse me ? That's a rather rude and insensitive reply !
For your information,the council has not had any courses for months,hence why I haven't booked one.And for your information,I have actually only just started minding again and did not have an income at all,so paying £150 for a 2 day course when I am a single parent? And my family lives abroad.I am sorry,but no need to be rude,I was only asking for advice,not to get my head bitten off !

[tetti]

I really do NOT need this,thank you !Do not judge if you do not know my circumstances.

[Zoomie]

Okay my tone was blunt, apologies for that, but I stand by everything else I said.

[tetti]

I will not be drawn into an argument as I am not an argumentative nor blunt person,but this is a forum where people ask for advice and one should never judge another person and criticise them if one does not know their circumstances as doing this can be construed as being rather rude and insensitive at the very least.I was greatly offended by your comments as I am a firm believer of never judging someone unless you have walked in their shoes,and this is something I encourage my mindees to,respect for others,one of the golden rules of childminding.

[The Juggler]

I will not be drawn into an argument as I am not an argumentative nor blunt person,but this is a forum where people ask for advice and one should never judge another person and criticise them if one does not know their circumstances as doing this can be construed as being rather rude and insensitive at the very least.I was greatly offended by your comments as I am a firm believer of never judging someone unless you have walked in their shoes,and this is something I encourage my mindees to,respect for others,one of the golden rules of childminding.

hon, I always leave mine until quite late in the hope that the early years team might be offering a free one (in vain for the last 7 years but hey ho )

Anyway the red cross run really reasonable ones at their offices and also run them through our local adult education college (SCOLA in Sutton) they are about £38-£60 so not too bad.

Ring the red cross local to you and ask them hon. good luck with your return to minding.

[sarah707]

I was in exactly the same situation this time after I had 2 courses lined up and both of them cancelled on me.

Through no fault of my own I was then left with only a few weeks to go on my certificate and nothing.

Very luckily I got on a course at the local college but unluckily it's the most expensive I have ever had to pay for AND it's taking 3 Saturday mornings which I really resent.

I know how hard to can be to find a course because I really struggled too. I asked local childminders - do you have a facebook page or any other way of contacting them? That's where I got my heads up on my course from.

I hope it all works out with Ofsted. Good luck with it all xx

[Chimps Childminding]

Its a nightmare at the moment!! June and I did ours in May even though our current First Aid Certificate doesn't expire until October. The Early Years Training Team couldn't guarantee that there would be a course available (never mind local to us) between May and October, so we decided to do it early rather than risk not getting on one! Luckily we did because our new training manual is out and there isn't a course local enough to be able to get to after work in an evening this year!!

Good luck with finding one

[TheBTeam]

Same here, mine runs out October, but doing mine last saturday and this and cant take the risk, it is costing £70, my friends have got together to organise one and have got the cost at £35 but this is on date I cant do, if you are near in Hertfordshire they could probably slot you in 25/6 July.