Childcare practitioners are at the heart of the Government's drive toensure that all young children get the best start in life to enable themto reach their full potential.
To realise that vision, practitioners need to be skilled, well-led andsupported by effective, shared systems and processes.
People in different parts of the workforce need to be able to work welltogether across institutional and professional boundaries, focusedaround the needs of the child and young person.
Reforming the children's workforce so that it supports the five EveryChild Matters outcomes more effectively, with a stronger focus on earlyidentification and prevention, is a crucial part of the process.
Change is always challenging. for people. But for practitioners who wantto progress in their careers, the workforce reform programme providesthem with opportunities to develop new skills, acquire new knowledge andgain new qualifications, as well as opening up new career routes.
EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE
From September next year, all providers will be required to use theEarly Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which aims to help young childrenachieve the five Every Child Matters outcomes of staying safe, beinghealthy, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution andachieving economic well-being.
It brings together the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage,Birth to Three Matters, and the National Standards for Under-8s Daycareand Childminding and aims to build a coherent and flexible approach tocare and learning.
Providers will be inspected by Ofsted under Sections 49 and 50 of theChildcare Act 2006. Inspectors will have regard to the StatutoryFramework for the Early Years Foundation Stage booklet and will basetheir judgements on whether a provider has met the general and specificrequirements of the EYFS, for example the learning and development andwelfare requirements, and had regard to the guidance.
Practitioners must have the appropriate qualifications, training, skillsand knowledge to deliver the EYFS. Local authorities have just beenawarded extra funding for training to support transition to the newframework, for example via the new three-module Level 3 Certificate inEYFS Practice, developed by the Children's Workforce Development Council(CWDC) and others, which should be available from September thisyear.
- www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/eyfs, (DfES standards website)
- www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary
- www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning/EYFS
DEVELOPMENT OF THE EARLY YEARS PROFESSIONAL
Early Years Professionals (EYPs) will be key to raising the quality ofchildcare for children from birth to five years old. They will lead,support and mentor other early years practitioners to deliver the EarlyYears Foundation Stage. There will be an EYP in every full daycaresetting by 2015.
EYP status is equivalent to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and is alevel 6 award. There are four possible routes to achieving it, dependingon your previous knowledge and experience.
To be eligible you need to hold at least 120 credits at level 4 and 120credits at level 5. You will also need to have GCSE grade C orequivalent in English and mathematics and proven written and verbalskills.
The scheme is funded by the CWDC, which has been allocated 51.8mfrom the Transformation Fund. There are no fees to pay. Full-trainingcandidates receive a bursary of 5,000. Payments for those onother pathways are made to their setting to cover supply cover costswhile they attend training.
- www.cwdcouncil.org.uk
TRANSFORMATION FUND
The Transformation Fund is the means by which the programme of workforcereform will be achieved. It is providing 250m from April 2006 toAugust next year to raise the quality of private, voluntary andindependent (PVI) childcare for the under fives, by supporting thedevelopment of the workforce. It has opened up training opportunitiesfor providers and their staff by:
- Establishing, and providing financial support for, training routestowards the new graduate-level EYPS. It does this by providing arecruitment incentive of 3,000 in each year for full daycaresettings to take on a graduate and a quality premium of 5,000 forsettings already employing someone with a level 5 or 6 qualification,although the premium can be spent on training for other staff too. Bothawards are higher in London.
- Investing in level 3-5 training and development to increase the skillsand qualifications of staff employed in PVI childcare settings, inparticular by increasing the numbers with a level 3 qualification. Fromthis September local authorities will also be able to access theTransformation Fund to support EYFS training.
- Training more staff in the PVI childcare sectors to work with disabledchildren and those with SEN.
- www.everychildmatters.gov.uk
- www.cwdcouncil.org.uk
INTRODUCTION OF THE INTEGRATED QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK
The workforce reform programme is designed to allow practitioners themobility and flexibility to progress from one area to another bybuilding on the skills and knowledge they already have rather thanhaving to start training from scratch.
The Integrated Qualifications Framework (IQF) will be a unit-basedframework with eight levels, up to and including higher educationprofessional level qualifications. It will bring together and simplifythe range of qualifications available for people working with children,making it easier to understand what skills are needed for a particularjob.
The IQF, which is to be completed by next year, is a credit framework,which will link with the Qualifications and Credit Framework and theHigher Education Framework, so that anyone working in areas such aschildcare, teaching, health, social work or play will be able to bolt oncredits, which are relevant to their new area of work.
To unify the children's workforce, all qualifications will link witheach other and have a basis in the common core.
- www.everychildmatters.gov.uk
- www.qca.org.uk (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority website)
- www.cwdcouncil.org.uk
THE MOVE TO MULTI-AGENCY WORKING
The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is the lynchpin for multi-agencyworking. It enables children's services professionals to communicatewith each other - from early years practitioners to social workers andfrom health professionals to youth workers - so they can deliverfrontline services that are integrated and focused around the needs ofchildren and young people.
All local authority areas are expected to implement the CAF betweenApril 2006 and the end of next year.
As a versatile document, CAF is designed for use when concerns ariseabout a child, or when additional needs are recognised that requirefurther exploration and a multi-agency response.
It consists of three features: the pre-assessment checklist, designed tohelp practitioners identify children who would benefit; the process andinformation required to help complete CAF; and the form to be filled inand shared with others.
Consultation closes in July on draft guidance for ContactPoint, anonline directory that will be a major tool of multi-agency working. Itwill carry details of all children in the country and will be availableto authorised staff to enable them to find out who else is working withthe same child or young person, making it easier to deliver morecoordinated support.
- www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/deliveringservices/caf/
- www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/contactpoint/
SECTOR SKILLS AGREEMENTS: THE BIG DEAL
Sector Skills Agreements (SSAs) are pacts between employers, theirsector skills council, partner organisations and the Government. Theymap out exactly what current and future skills are needed by employersand how these skills and qualifications will be developed.
Five stages of development:
- Identifying the skills needed now and in the future
- Assessing current training provision
- Identifying gaps and how to fill them
- Exploring the potential for collaboration between employers andtraining providers
- Developing the plan of action.
The CWDC has called its SSA 'the big deal'. The CWDC recently publishedits survey of skill needs and has assessed the extent and quality ofcurrent training provision.
- www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/projects/sectorskillsagreement
THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The workforce reform programme is not static. Early years practitionerswill need to keep abreast of future developments. The most effective wayis by embarking on Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
While short courses and workshops are undoubtedly worthwhile, the advicefrom training experts is that there is a growing need for practitionersto undertake accredited courses that can demonstrate knowledge to arange of employers.
The development of Early Years Professional status, supported by theIntegrated Qualification Framework, envisages practitioners moving inand out of the early years labour market while at the same time raisingthe standards of the workforce.
Accredited CPD qualifications will act as passports to enable people tomove more easily across the boundaries between the different areas anddisciplines of the children's workforce.
CACHE currently runs a Level 3 Certificate of Professional Developmentand is developing a new level 4 CPD course for launch in September 2008aimed at established practitioners who need to develop their leadershipskills.
The National Day Nurseries Association has also devised a BusinessSupport and Continuous Professional Development Programme.
- www.cache.org.uk/www.qca.org.uk/www.ndna.org.uk.
