Nursery World - The early years sector and leadership apprenticeships

The apprentice levy can now support early years leaders with an enriched Level 5 and Level 7 programmes in Leadership. Gareth Alcott, director of strategic partnerships at the National College of Education, explores Leadership in Early Years.

Gareth Alcott: 'The leadership challenges of childcare settings are immense and growing'

In England and Wales there are over 27,000 Childcare settings offering more than one million places for children aged 0-4 years old. The provision is good or outstanding with more than 97 per cent falling into these inspection categories. These settings provide a great start for children and we know from the SEED study that the impact of good (or better) provision greatly improves outcomes for children of every demographic.

However, the leadership challenges of these childcare settings are immense and growing. We have a recruitment crisis in the sector with fewer settings able to meet the staff to child ratios, Covid has left the sector battling with developmental and mental health issues in the very young. These challenges have become more prominent with budget cuts impacting the sector and are growing worse since 2020.

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