Following feedback from nurseries, childminders and other early years settings, the Children's Workforce Development Council has updated and improved its Qualifications Audit Tool.
This was launched in August 2009 as a way to help all registered settings store staff information, record their qualifications and training, and ensure continuing professional development needs are being met. Despite some initial concerns about who could view the data and how it might be used, the tool has steadily gained uptake since then.
Currently 7,000 settings and 130 local authorities in England are registered to use it and benefit from its interactive capabilities. A priority in the refresh was to ensure that childminders and home-based childcarers can take control of their own professional progress and be part of wider workforce development.
The new version includes easier log-in, clarity over the information required and a shorter form to enable childminders to submit their data. Once practitioners have registered and completed their details, they only have to update the information as and when they gain qualifications or details change.
According to Thom Crabbe, national manager for early years at CWDC, it is vital that childminders are included in the picture of the workforce and its development. 'We already have a good picture of the workforce emerging from our records of over 44,000 practitioners and we want to make sure that childminders are rightly represented in this data,' he says.
At the National Childminding Association, Stuart Turner, director of professional standards, says 'Professional development is vital to ensuring childminders can continue to offer children the best quality care and early learning opportunities. NCMA wants to see all registered childminders achieve a Level 3 qualification or above, and the new Qualifications Audit Tool will provide an excellent way for them to track their own personal development and training needs.'
Childminder and Early Years Professional Lizzie McAteer reports she has found the tool useful in monitoring her own training. 'Being a childminder means I work autonomously and therefore I manage all of the administrative requirements for my setting, which includes keeping track of all the certificates and qualifications for myself. Often I find I have to do this in the evening, because during the day I devote all my attention to the children.
'The introduction of the Audit Tool has been perfect for me. Before I just kept a file with a list of all my training. Now I have everything filed in one place that I can quickly access.'
Ms McAteer attests to its user-friendliness. 'I just opened it online and filled out all of the information, which took less than 20 minutes. It will make my job of tracking training much easier and quicker, because all the information is at my fingertips and with the click of a button I can see the next steps for my development.'
