Childcare Student of the Year Award 2008
Now in its eighth year, the Heinemann and Nursery World Childcare Student of the Year Award recognises excellence in the care and education of children and rewards high achieving students.
2008 winner announced
Jessica Whiteley from Plume College in Maldon, Essex, is this year's Heinemann and Nursery World Childcare Student of the Year. 18 year old Jessica was presented with her award by Brian Tytherleigh, Director of National Programmes for the Children's Workforce Development Council at a ceremony held at Heinemann's head office in Oxford on 1 July. Jessica received a certificate along with one year’s free subscription to Nursery World magazine and a cheque for £300.
Beth Howard, Senior Publisher for Childcare at Heinemann said, 'The award, sponsored by Heinemann and Nursery World, provides an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of outstanding childcare students who show the potential to be brilliant childcare practitioners. The four finalists, who were selected from over 60 entries this year, were no exception. In fact the standard was so high that the judges took much longer than normal to deliberate and the final decision was a tough one.'
On winning Jessica exclaimed, 'I'm still in shock! The award will look amazing on my CV too.' Jessica plans to save most of her £300 for university but will maybe spend a little of it on shopping! She has just completed her Level 3 CACHE Diploma and plans to go to the University of Kent in September to study social psychology and one day hopes to own and run her own nursery. Jessica is also working at a local nursery to earn some extra money for university. She recently completed the Barnardos Pyramid Training course and carried out voluntary work at a local primary school working to build confidence in children with low self esteem.
Judge and well known author of Heinemann childcare books, Penny Tassoni, commented, 'It was the hardest year to date as all candidates showed a good understanding of child development and amazing confidence in front of a judging panel. The students are a great credit to their families and tutors.'
Brian reinforced this by saying, 'It is important to celebrate the success of our childcare students as they are the practitioners of the future. What I've heard and seen today has impressed me and the quality of work displayed has been exemplary.
'All the students here are winners, but Jessica demonstrated a strong commitment to children which was backed up by some excellent written work.'
The judging process took place on the same day as the presentation of the award where the four finalists were each given a case study of a real-life situation and asked to report back to the judges on how they would tackle the issue posed to them. The judges made their decision based on the outcomes together with the supporting written work submitted prior to the judging day.
The Award also highlights colleges producing first class students by rewarding the winning institution as well as the pupil and so Plume College received a £300 voucher to spend on Heinemann resources, which was accepted by Jessica's tutor Gill Leafe. Gill said that the vouchers would be spent on books for the new CACHE Level 3 Award, Certificate and Diploma course.
Gill was delighted for Jessica and enthused, 'I've taught Jessica for five years and it is fantastic to see how well she has progressed. As soon as I heard the result I rang the head teacher to let her know. All at Plume College are very proud of her.'
The runners-up – Bethany Chiles from University College Birmingham , Verity Jones from Cheadle and Marple Sixth Form College, and Kate Taylor from Preston College – each received a cheque for £100 together with £75 worth of Heinemann vouchers for their colleges.
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Childcare Student of the Year 2008
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Jessica Whiteley of Plume College, Essex
with her tutor Gill Leafe
Visit our online gallery| for more photos from the presentation ceremony.