Trail blazers

Less than a year ago a group of experienced early years staff from a wide range of professional backgrounds became pioneers. They were the first group of students to take part in the pilot of a new qualification for early years leadership.

The 41 students all had wide experience of work within a range of early years centres, schools, Sure Start local programmes and health services, and were enthusiastic to take up the challenge to become the first to gain the National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL).

The leadership programme is part of the DfES plan to support the huge and rapid growth in children's centres - 2,500 new ones are planned to be up and running by 2008. The Government recognises that the improved outcomes for children set out in the Every Child Matters Green Paper will rely on a more skilled and flexible workforce and, most importantly, high-calibre leadership. The NPQICL is designed specifically for leaders of children's centres and integrated early years services and has been developed by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL), in collaboration with the Pen Green Leadership Centre, the NHS Leadership Centre, the Social Care Institute for Excellence and the DfES.