The University of Northampton is proud to have been one of only six providers in the country selected to offer the Early Years Student Associate Scheme (EYSAS) in 2010. The scheme was aimed at final-year undergraduate students who might be interested in working with young children from birth to five, who were not studying an early years-related degree but who demonstrated lots of enthusiasm to learn, and who demonstrated potentially transferable skills.
The Children's Workforce Development Council established the EYSAS as a means of providing a 'taster' of work experience in an early years setting to help prospective graduates decide whether this could be the right career choice for them. The initiative was also a bid to attract a wider range of people into early years, including those from ethnic minorities and men. It was decided that we should throw a challenge to the prospective students.
Thirty students were offered places on the scheme after an initial briefing and interviews which found them working with playdough, using puppets and getting into role play based on children's activities. Students had to commit to three consecutive weeks in a setting.
SCHEDULE COMMITMENTS
The students had to commit to an intensive schedule and agree to attend two preparation days and a compulsory debrief session and complete a placement diary in return for a monetary incentive offered by CWDC. They were offered an additional 'bonus' if they demonstrated their commitment by gaining a high, performance-rated score in relation to attendance and involvement from their work-based mentor.
During the preparation days they learned about the best ways to engage with children and enter into their play with a backdrop of resources, asking 'What is it?', 'What does it do?', 'What can I do with it'?. This was organised by Eleonora Teszenyi, one of the senior lecturers from the early years team.
A representative from the local authority gave an introduction to setting up a pre-school provision with the intention of capturing the wider business requirements of running a setting as a business.
Finally, students were given an insight into the stages of language development in order to prepare them to communicate with children aged from birth to five.
HOST SETTINGS
Many former University of Northampton students who had already gained their Early Years Professional Status offered their settings as placements and to mentor the EYSAS students. The settings' managers attended a briefing session where the outline of the scheme was explained and a commitment to monitor and evaluate students' progress was discussed and agreed. The settings included children's centres, playgroups, day nurseries and centres that focused on children with SEN.
Students were warmly welcomed into the settings and very quickly established themselves with the children and the staff. Feedback at the end of the programme was exceptionally positive, with the majority of students scoring good or outstanding. They were evaluated against the Leuven Scales of Involvement which reflected autonomy, sensitivity and stimulation measured through observations of student-child engagement.
OUTCOMES
Three students were offered positions directly from their placement and three were accepted on the EYPS Full Pathway - a route to gaining professional status through our Early Years Graduate Diploma. As a pilot project the EYSAS team consider this to have been a successful experiment and would welcome the opportunity to repeat the programme, although it was very time-intensive.
The students received goodbye cards and drawings from the staff and the children, and many settings have written to the university thanking us for sending them such high quality students.
Feedback from students was positive after the course. 'It was a very good experience,' said one. 'I had a wonderful time in the organised placement, with both the staff and children. I would be interested in working with children as a career in the near future.'
Another student who subsequently embarked on EYPS said, 'It was a fabulous experience and I enjoyed every day. I learned so much - especially about children's learning styles.'
Some of the lessons gained from the scheme as a whole have been incorporated into our current EYPS programme. Feedback from focus groups, gathered during the scheme's debriefing sessions, is now being evaluated and it will form the basis for a paper to be presented for inclusion in academic conferences later this year.
SAFE RECRUITMENT
The Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) is encouraging recruiters in all organisations who work with children and young people to complete its free Safer Recruitment online training. This covers what constitutes abuse, recruitment processes that should be followed, the update on arrangements for vetting and checking, and how to manage allegations.
CWDC also offers face-to-face Safer Recruitment training, available nationally through Action for Children.
Register at http://www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/safeguarding/ safer-recruitment
