Meet the 16-year-old boy who looks after 13 babies!
16-year-old Harley Keenan works as a nursery apprentice at Buttercup Corner Day Nursery in Chadderton, caring for up to 13 babies at a time. Despite being one of the youngest and only male staff members, he finds the job incredibly rewarding. The article highlights the gender disparity in early years education, with only 2-3% of educators being men, and explores societal stereotypes and stigmas that deter men from the field. Harley advocates for more male involvement, emphasizing its positive impact as a role model. The article also touches on the broader crisis in the Early Years sector, including a national shortage of nursery teachers.
Sixteen-year-old Harley Keenan starts his shift at Buttercup Corner Day Nursery in Chadderton knowing he could be responsible for up to 13 babies at once - a prospect that would send most teenagers running.
The nursery apprentice, who balances childcare duties with his studies after finishing his GCSEs, describes the experience as “the most amazing feeling in the world.”
“It’s their little faces when they’re giggling and happy,” Keenan said. “Or when they’re shouting ‘hiyaa!’ at you from the other side of the room.”
What began as holiday cover to help a family friend evolved into a career path for Keenan, now completing his first apprenticeship rotation. He stands out not just for his age but as the only male among 25 to 30 women working at the nursery.
“It’s a very rewarding career but not many men do it,” he explained. “It’s important because there are a lot of boys who don’t have that role model.”
Government statistics reveal men represent just 2-3 percent of early years educators in England - roughly 11,500 out of 386,100 staff, less than half the capacity of Manchester’s Co-Op Live arena. Education charity NCFE reports gender stereotypes and stigma deter men from entering the field, with some male staff facing unwelcoming attitudes from parents or online abuse.
Keenan, however, has encountered only support. “I did have that thought at first - what are parents going to think? But since I’ve been here, I’ve had nothing but love and respect and gratitude.”
The teenager advocates for more men to join early years education, arguing it benefits children to see men in caregiving roles while demonstrating that careers needn’t be gender-restricted. “The boys seeing they can go into a women dominated field - and also girls seeing they can go into male-dominated things like football,” he said.
His enthusiasm comes amid a national crisis: the UK faces a shortage of approximately 11,000 nursery teachers, potentially leaving 300,000 children at risk of falling behind before starting school. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has launched a campaign to recruit more early years educators, while Save the Children reports nearly 37,000 children in the North West lack access to qualified early years teachers.
“No day is the same,” Keenan said, noting he needs “about four changes of trousers a week” due to messy play. “We get to see them standing up, walking, holding our hands, saying their first words. It’s like their second home when you think about it.”
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