A qualification is being launched in Liverpool to test the viability of packaging, specifically for childminders, certain units of the Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce.
Gill Mason, community and society advisor for awarding body City and Guilds, has been working in partnership with Janet Bradley, childcare workforce development officer from Liverpool's Childcare and Family Information Service, to accredit the qualification. Ms Bradley felt that to replace the old Introducing Childminding Practice (ICP) qualification with the one unit from the Level 3 Diploma (Working in a Home-based Childcare Service) would not be sufficient to equip childminders with the basic skills and knowledge to deliver a quality childcare service. Ms Bradley identified units from the new Level 3 Diploma that will be sufficient to cover the six areas of skills and knowledge recommended by the CWDC as the Common Core, in addition to the unit Working in a Home-Based Childcare Service. Childminders who successfully complete the units will achieve a Level 3 Certificate in Working with Children and Young People in a Home-based Childcare Service. The aim is for this to be accredited as a stand-alone qualification on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).
Ms Mason reports that feedback from childminders suggests that to complete a full Level 3 Diploma can be daunting for some. 'This is particularly the case for childminders who have recently registered and feel they don't have the right skills,' she says.
Liverpool traditionally has a strong commitment to its childminders, encouraging them to become members of their local childminder network and offering them support from their local children's centre. A range of materials and resources has also been developed locally.
There will now be a new full programme of support given to childminders, including pathways sessions, safeguarding training, paediatric first aid and the Certificate in Working with Children and Young People in a Home-Based Childcare Service. During the pathways sessions, participants are given an overview of the regulatory framework, an outline of the role of a childminder and offered the opportunity to ask questions. They also meet the local authority's childcare development officers and childminder network co-ordinators at these sessions.
Liverpool is keen to build a bespoke training course for new childminders which complements its existing support. Its aim is to 'embed a quality approach for the development of new childminding businesses'.
With this in mind, the programme of support has just been rolled out in Liverpool and its new Certificate is being delivered to 15 childminders over 16 weeks.
The Certificate in Working with Children and Young People in a Home-Based Childcare Service will include:
Unit 3.1 Understanding child and young person development
Unit 3.3 Understanding how to safeguard the wellbeing of children and young people
Unit 3.6 Working together for the benefit of children and young people
Unit 3.7 Understanding how to support positive outcomes for children and young people
Unit 5 Understanding how to set up a home-based childcare service.
'By undertaking these five units, childminders will have a sound understanding of children and young people's development, how to safeguard and how to contribute to positive outcomes,' says Ms Mason.
