We are in the final stages of assessment for our current cohort of Graduate Practitioner Pathway candidates. They have now all had their setting visits and there are three more who are awaiting their final interviews. All have spent time collecting documents, writing assignments and showing their practice to assessors, while their setting visits have been their chance to demonstrate their EYP journey. Meanwhile the Graduate Entry Pathway and Undergraduate Practitioner Pathway candidates are continuing with their studies and are in the middle of their development reviews. Once these have been completed they are in practice over the summer before coming back in to university in September.
We have a taster evening planned for the 10 July where we have invited potential candidates to enrol on September pathways and I have been interviewing current applicants. I have met a great number of talented dedicated people who have applied and I am allocating funded places where I have them.
'A CARING BEDROC'
In the current climate I wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate the work of EYPs. Our status has been in place since 2006 and we now have in the region of 10,000 accredited Early Years Professionals in England. What this means is that we have graduate professional leaders who are recognised by the sector as successful, effective leaders working with children from birth-to-five.
EYPs are successful in providing pedagogical leadership in many different types of early years settings, including children’s centres, private settings, charity settings and sessional day care. They lead the planning, implementation and delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage and are now working to ensure the successful roll out of the new EYFS from September 2012.
It’s fair to say those with the status have made a real difference to the ability of settings to support some of the most disadvantaged children and families, and improve their life chances. They have achieved this by actively engaging in early intervention and ensuring children get the support they need as early as possible.
One of the most important aspects of EYPs’ success has been working in partnership with families. For example, we have received a lot of positive feedback about how they have supported parents and children in areas such as transitions and home learning. Crucially they have introduced the ‘ethic of care’ attitude when working with children and in some cases where children are in crisis they are providing a much needed warm, caring bedrock to support these children.
At the beginning of the year EYPs were challenged by children’s minister, Sarah Teather to take a lead role in improving the achievement of children and helping to upskill the workforce (minister’s column, 26 January 2012). This is not a new concept as far as the current and past cohorts of EYPS candidates are concerned and I truly feel that EYPs can continue to make a difference. This has been supported by research evidence such as the ‘First National Survey of Practitioners with EYPS’ and the DfE ‘Evaluation of the Graduate Leader Fund’ report. It has also been supported with feedback from previous candidates on the development of their professional identity. Candidates testify to their ability to feel that they confidently lead practice and inspire staff teams. Most important, they recognise the extent to which the status has helped them improve outcomes for children.
As EYPs you may also want to reflect on your achievements and consider how your voice can be heard by policy makers going forward, and you may feel you want to make the Teaching Agency aware of your views to help inform their decision around our status in future years.
