A real pro in caring for kids; MirrorWorks CAREER AHEAD WITH YOUR JOBS SECTION Edited by Tricia Phillips: CAROLINE HAS TOTS TO THANK FOR HER SUCCESS.

Byline: SHEILA PROPHET ; Tricia Phillips

WHEN young mum Caroline Johnson took a three-week course in childminding, she never imagined it would be the start of a new life.

Thirteen years later, Caroline has built a dynamic career in childcare, designing and running her own nursery, Stables Daycare near Sevenoaks in Kent, studied continuously to gain impressive qualifications, including a degree, and taken on a new graduate role called Early Years Professional.

What's more, she has done all this while bringing up three daughters, Saffron, 16, Megan, 14 and Tamsin, who is six.

"I like to keep busy," says Caroline, 36. "I am a night owl, and am often still working at midnight.

"I was involved in the care sector, working with the elderly, when I had my first baby at the age of 20.

When you are at home with a baby you can lose your confidence so I wanted to get back to work while spending time at home with Saffron. Childminding seemed the ideal solution so I took a course and had my home inspected before getting my licence. As a childminder I looked after eight or nine children and really enjoyed it. So when my eldest daughter went to nursery, I became a volunteer there helping out two days a week."

Impressed with Caroline's skills with children, the nursery paid for her to study for an NVQ Level Four Advanced Diploma in pre-school education.

"It's the basic minimum requirement for pre-school management," she explains. "It includes subjects such as nutrition, safeguarding children and helping them develop various skills.

"The diploma gave me 120 points towards a degree, so after I enrolled with the Open University to do a BSc. As I had these points I could choose my subjects. I hadn't done very well at school - I was a bit of a rebel and left without any qualifications - so as well as doing child psychology, I took English and maths."

Amazingly, Caroline did all this without a break. "I remember I finished one course on a Friday, and had my youngest daughter the following Monday!" In 2004, she was ready to open her own nursery, or "setting" as it is called in industry jargon. "I looked around for premises and found some run-down stables in parkland surrounding a beautiful country house. "Buying it was rather scary, because I had to take a commercial loan and add to our mortgage, but I knew what I wanted - premises where children could run in and out freely, because research has shown they do best in natural surroundings.

"So I designed the nursery and my husband Richard, who works in the building trade, built it to my design."

Caroline says she also knew exactly what her nursery should offer. "We wanted to offer parents flexibility and choice," she says. "A lot of nurseries offer all or nothing - parents have to pay for the whole day's care, when they might just need a couple of hours break. At Stables, children can come every day or just an afternoon a week, with parents paying by the hour.

"We now have 140 children on our books, but our flexible hours mean they aren't all here at the same time. And while it does make the business side of things more complicated, it allows me to have a mix of staff, who are able to work a variety of hours.

Caroline's own career, meanwhile, shows no sign of slowing down. "I am now studying for an MA in Early Years, and I'm opening a second nursery at a nearby development called Holborough Lakes in September," she says.

"Childcare should be taken seriously - it doesn't just mean giving crayons to children, there is so much more to it than that, and good quality care in the early years can greatly improve children's development.

"I have 23 staff taking taking a variety of qualifications, from NVQs to Early Years Professional. I want childcare to be seen as a serious long-term career, not just a stopgap for people."

MAKE AN EARLY YEARS START

EARLY Years Professional Status is a new role for graduates, introduced to help raise standards in the childcare industry.

EYPs work as leaders and support others working with them. The Government wants to see at least one EYP in every nursery and children's centre by 2015 and is providing funding for their training and supplementing their income once they have qualified. For more information go to www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/eyps. The first ever Early Years Professional national event takes place at Birmingham ICC on July 14 from 9am till 5pm.

This free event is open to EYPs and anyone interested in training for the role and offers a specialist exhibition, a chance to talk to colleagues and experts, talks from keynote speakers a range of seminars on childcare issues.

To find out more and register in advance, visit www.greengagelive.com/Events.

CAPTION(S):

EARLY LEARNING Caroline at work at her nursery, Stables