As the old year gives way to the new, the first cohort of students are beginning to graduate from the new standards-based Level 3 Early Years Educator apprenticeship. It hasn’t been an easy ride for them, with their learning interrupted by a global pandemic. It also was not an easy ride for the qualification itself, which finally launched in April 2019, five years after the first trailblazer group was set up to develop it. That group was disbanded after a row over the removal of functional skills from the qualification – something the Department for Education later changed its mind about.
A total of 7,653 apprentices have signed up to the new qualification, according to the Institute for Apprenticeships. Kids Planet Day Nurseries, for instance, has 76 apprentices taking the qualification, and has doubled the size of its training team to cope with demand.
The Government’s incentive payments for employers who take on apprentices before 31 January – which amounts to £2,000 for apprentices aged 16 to 24 – may also increase numbers, but Tracy Walker, quality and compliance manager at WMC Training, does not believe this will lead to more people entering the sector. ‘It may have brought people through more quickly,’ she suggests.
The new apprenticeship standards aim to put more power in the hands of employers and are designed to be accessible, filling only two sides of A4 in size 12 font. The scheme differs from its predecessor, the framework-based apprenticeship, in a number of ways, including the introduction of an independently evaluated ‘end-point assessment’ and a distinction grade (see box).
The new qualification attracts more funding, up to £6,000 as opposed to around £2,500. However, providers say that since the previous qualification was significantly underfunded, the rise mostly just allows them to deliver it without making a loss. ‘The extra funding does give the ability to differentiate from the beginning, as some learners need more support than others,’ says Ms Walker.
Students must maintain a portfolio of evidence throughout the course, including videos, showing how they are demonstrating the knowledge, skills and behaviour required by the standards. The portfolio forms the basis of a 90-minute discussion with an external assessor as part of the end-point assessment (EPA), which also includes a 60-minute multiple-choice test. Students can get some questions wrong and still pass, but if they get a safeguarding question wrong, they will fail.
Students only take the EPA when they, the trainer and the employer feel they are ready. Those who fail can resit, but will not be able to gain a distinction. ‘It is reassuring from the employer’s point of view that someone outside the training provider has made that judgement,’ says Gill Mason, training manager at Kids Planet.
Students need to retain their learning throughout the course, as they will be tested on it at the end. ‘That is making a big impact on how we deliver to the learner,’ says Ms Walker. ‘Learning has to be threaded through and learners have to keep revising to update and deepen that knowledge.’
Covid has made things more difficult for training providers, who cannot visit settings to verify the evidence contained in the portfolio. WMC is working with managers and apprentices to check evidence, but has not been able to visit a setting since March 2020. ‘That takes it back to practice only being as good as the setting, which is what the standard is supposed to prevent,’ says Ms Walker.
The addition of sections on knowledge, skills and behaviour in the standard means that students can face a reduced choice as to which optional units they take as part of the mandatory qualification. ‘“Working efficiently within the team” is not a mandatory unit within the diploma, but students should complete it in order to meet the knowledge, skills and behaviour standard, otherwise they will end up with additional work,’ says Ms Walker. ‘The diploma can be seen as a way of evidencing the knowledge, skills and behaviour.’
So far employers seem to be happy with the new qualification. ‘Managers have commented that the activities apprentices are doing and the tasks they have to complete seem more focused on the role of working within a nursery,’ says June O’Sullivan, London Early Years Foundation chief executive.
‘I am confident this is more what employers want, but it is early days and time will tell the impact of the end-point assessment,’ says Kids Planet’s Ms Mason. ‘This time next year we will see if quality has improved and practitioners have more in-depth skills and knowledge.’
Active Angels, Shirley
Eighteen-year-old Isabelle Nock expects to graduate from her Level 3 apprenticeship by the end of the year, once she has completed her external assessment.
Ms Nock hopes to gain a distinction, which she would not have been able to do on the framework apprenticeship. ‘The college pushed me to get a distinction, and showed me what I would have to do to gain it,’ she says. ‘If you put more in, you get more out, just like when you do observations on children.’ She says the most challenging part of the course was learning about, and remembering, the approaches of different theorists such as Piaget.
Active Angels is used to employing apprentices – its deputy manager started as one. ‘We never have more than one, as it is hard for the girls in the room having to train them, and also the day off for college does impact us,’ says manager Sara Fogarty. ‘But it is a cheaper way of having an extra pair of hands.’
Kids Planet
As a teenager, 21-year-old Ellis Yarwood used to run roller-disco parties and other children’s activities. After dropping out of A-Levels, he became one of the first to study for the new Level 3 qualification.
The onset of the pandemic meant Mr Yarwood was furloughed for a month. He was able to spend this time doing coursework at home, and managed to finish that aspect of the course eight weeks early. He has been accessing learning online, but misses interacting with other learners face-to-face. His most recent unit was on healthy eating, looking at initiatives across the country, things his setting could do to support children and resources that might be useful.
Back in the nursery, Mr Yarwood has moved around the different rooms, gaining experience of different developmental stages, and is currently in the pre-school room. He hopes to specialise in working with SEND children in the future.
‘The most challenging part of the course, but also my favourite, was the longitudinal study we had to do,’ he says. ‘We observed a single child, and wrote a critical analysis at the end, looking at what they learn from us and what they teach themselves using our resources.’
Kids Planet apprentices have the opportunity to take part in ‘practice runs’ of the EPA discussion with people in the organisation they may not be familiar with. Mr Yarwood has no worries, however. ‘I don’t have a problem talking for a while,’ he laughs. ‘They say I have got the gift of the gab.’
London Early Years Foundation
Gemma Oakley, 24, joined LEYF as an apprentice in October 2019. She was furloughed for two and a half months over lockdown, but continued studying with Zoom calls and assignments that did not involve direct practice.
She is just putting the finishing touches to her coursework. ‘Coursework has been fun,’ she says. ‘We do an action plan for an activity with the children based on what we are learning about – for example, physical activity – then we write up how it went, and evaluate how we did. We also carried out research on theories around physical development.’ Another assignment saw apprentices making a poster on infectious diseases for their setting.
The organisation employs 59 Level 3 childcare apprentices, and works with three training providers. As part of the ‘20 per cent off the job’ time, LEYF delivers enrichment sessions focusing on interview skills, LEYF’s approach and other topics. Mandy Cuttler, pedagogy manager, developed a contract for apprentices across the organisation to ensure they all get their allotted time out of the setting, and monthly check-ins ensure this is happening.
Michelle Samuels, learning and development apprentice programme manager, has implemented the ‘Friday Five’, whereby apprentices email her with five things they have learned that week, in order to encourage reflective practice and embed learning. In the new year she plans to timetable one day a week for apprentices to spend with her or another LEYF professional.
The group is also using some of the funding to provide students with laptops so they can engage with online learning.
Standards vs framework
Design: The framework apprenticeship was designed by sector bodies. The standards-based apprenticeship was designed by a trailblazer group of early years employers.
Assessment: Under the framework apprenticeship, students were assessed at various points throughout the course. The standards-based apprenticeship has an end-point assessment comprising a 90-minute discussion with an external assessor and a 60-minute multiple-choice knowledge test.
Grades: The framework apprenticeship was pass/fail. The standards-based apprenticeship offers a distinction grade as well as pass/fail.
Funding: The framework apprenticeship attracted funding of £2,500 per student after cuts in 2017. The standards-based apprenticeship attracts funding of up to £6,000 per student.
