Scotland's Men in Childcare programme has inspired Milton Keynes to follow its example and encourage more men to train for a career in the early years.
Marion Hogan, workforce strategy manager, Early Years and Extended Services at Milton Keynes council, says, 'Three years ago we went up to Scotland and met with Kenny Spence and Colin Chisholm of Men in Childcare. We visited settings where men were employed and talked to college principals about the training being delivered. We were very impressed with the model developed by Kenny and Colin and the way they addressed areas such as job titles and pay.'
While Milton Keynes has developed its own programme, Mr Spence and Mr Chisholm have come down at the end of each term and conducted marketing for the courses, using their own branding to encourage people to sign up.
Three years down the line, Ms Hogan says the training is going from strength to strength. Milton Keynes College is now recruiting its eighth cohort for September.
'This year is our most successful in terms of retaining men on the course, with 20 out of 24 Level 1 students going on to study for a CACHE Level 2,' says Ms Hogan. ' We have learned how to support them better with work placements and opportunities to meet local employers.'
Marketing has also become increasingly successful, with news stories and advertisements in local papers and promotion through the Men in Childcare online forum, children's centres, colleges and Facebook. 'We've also run focus groups to gauge the best ways to reach men and found that using pictures of them working in settings gets the message across,' adds Ms Hogan.
Course tutor Hayley Marsall reports that the course is attracting a wide mix of men. 'For some of them it is about a change in career and for others it is about developing parenting skills,' she says. 'One wants to go into primary teaching and another is a retired gentleman with grandchildren who wants to get back into work.
'The aim is to support local providers and to address the gender imbalance in the workforce. We have asked why local nurseries are not receiving male applicants. Interestingly, it doesn't seem that salary is the over-riding factor. A lot of the men on the course are getting paid less for the unskilled work they are doing than they would if they were working as a nursery assistant.'
She adds, 'The men are looking for a profession they can feel motivated in. They feel that when they are qualified they can offer something special, and that is empowering. We still have a way to go until we reach a mixed gender workforce, but we are getting there.'
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