The Validation Process for EYPS

Jennifer Colloby

• Publisher: Learning Matters
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9781844452835
• eBook ISBN: 9781844455713
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Éducation
• Subtopic: Évaluation dans le domaine de l'éducation

This book supports all candidates for Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) as they prepare for the Validation Process. Through a series of reflective activities based on case studies of successful candidates, this book helps those on the EYP pathway prepare for assessment and build confidence in their own good practice and skills. This second edition incorporates the changes to the assessment requirements introduced in September 2008 and references the new Candidate?s Handbook.

1 Setting the scene: the
modern-day workforce

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CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

By the end of this chapter you should:

• be aware of how the role of an EYP fits into the reform of the workforce;
• recognise the influences that have contributed to a changing workforce;
• have insight into the daily work of an EYP;
• be more aware of the opportunities that the EYP role will afford you.

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This chapter considers the growth of the workforce and the creation of a new role, the Early Years Professional (EYP). It looks briefly at how the EYP role emerged as a result of government thinking, informed by a demand for the expansion in childcare and a need to meet a dynamic external environment. It considers the historical perspective that has led to a new, professionalised community of practitioners. It concludes with a case study from an EYP who reflects on the impact becoming an EYP has made on her role.

Introduction

There has never been a more exciting time for being an Early Years practitioner than now. The past ten years have witnessed a doubling in the number of childcare places to 1.28 million (Ofsted, 2007), thus demonstrating a significant shift within the childcare sector. The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in his foreword to The Children’s Plan: Building Brighter Futures (DCSF, 2007) sets out government plans that ‘families will be at the centre of excellent integrated services’ which will in part be realised through the expansion of Children’s Centres across the country. With its commitment to ‘ensure that every child has the best start in life’ (DCSF, 2007) the government has identified that the most important factor for achieving this will be the development of a world-class workforce.

The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) ‘aims to improve the lives of children and young people by ensuring that the people working with children have the best possible training, qualifications, support and advice’ (adapted from CWDC, 2006a).

Part of the overall reform of the children’s workforce included plans to develop a new and pivotal role: that of the Early Years Professional (EYP). The aim is to have EYPs working in all Children’s Centres offering childcare by 2010 and in every day care setting by 2015. Training for this role is now well underway and to date ‘2500 people have attained EYPS and a further 2400 are in training’ (DCSF, 2009). The Government is now considering ‘making it a legal requirement that every full day care setting has a graduate from 2015’ (DCSF, 2009). Driven by financial support through the Graduate Leader Fund this will be facilitated through provision of training pathways to enable individuals to achieve EYP Status. These pathways include:

• the Validation Pathway for experienced graduate practitioners;
• a pathway for less experienced graduate practitioners who need targeted support to increase their underpinning knowledge and theory;
• a pathway for experienced practitioners who are studying to achieve graduate status; and lastly
• a training pathway for graduates from outside the workforce, to the role of EYP.

There now exist multiple opportunities for adults both within and outside the sector, to be part of this new Early Years workforce role, which has at its very heart the raising of standards and achievement in the care and education of young children. This does not mean that all that has gone before is now to be condemned as poor practice and disregarded; nor does it mean past achievements should be unrecognised. Rather, what was identified as best practice will be developed and expanded, and a fundamental role of an EYP will be to lead and model best practice amongst the communities of practitioners they work within.

There is now a commitment from government to fund the training and development of the Early Years workforce on a scale never seen before. This development (and demand) can in part be tracked back to events that often make uncomfortable reading; for example, the death of Victoria Climbié led directly to the revision of policy and practice reported in the Green Paper Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003). This crucial document has led to new policy initiatives designed to safeguard and improve outcomes for children. Choice for Parents, the Best Start for Children: A Ten Year Strategy for Childcare (HM Treasury, 2004) articulated the extent of the reforms to provision and the workforce. The CWDC was charged with the responsibility of allocating government funds, initially through the Transformation Fund, now the Graduate Leader Fund, to meet the demand for the training and development of a more highly qualified workforce.

You may be a long-standing practitioner who has witnessed the many policy changes impacting on practice over recent years, as well as the expansion of the Early Years workforce. You may be a graduate following the Full-training Pathway who finds yourself at the forefront of these new initiatives, or you may be a practitioner who has recently gained the necessary skills and experience to train for EYP Status. It is important to position yourself in the context of the radically changing workforce and to accept that in aspiring to be an EYP you are committed to change. By leading and supporting others you will, as part of a community of practitioners, help to make England ‘the best place in the world for our children and young people to grow up’ (DCSF, 2007).

A historical perspective of provision and the growth of the workforce

Over the past 100 years, provision has been the subject of considerable debate and change. The history of day care for young children can be most closely linked to the role of women and their access to paid work. The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 led to a rapid expansion in the number of women entering the workforce. As a response to this, the then Ministry of Education introduced Nursery Centres for the care of babies and children of working mothers. The creation of these wartime Nursery Centres was politically motivated by a real need for an increased workforce and not out of any concern for the well-being of young children. Near the end of the war the 1944 Education Act included the continuation of ‘nursery education’, but, with finance short, many local education authorities (LEAs) were obliged to fund compulsory education for children from five years old rather than support non-statutory provision.

However, localised provision continued, with some LEA and privately funded day care together with part-time pre-school playgroups – often managed and run by groups of mothers – offering learning through play. By 1991 at least one year of funded education was available for those parents who wanted it, but overall provision was patchy and of variable quality. In 1994, the Start Right report (Ball, 1994) was published, in which Sir Christopher Ball outlined the case for government to review care and education, addressing the inequities of its provision across the country and making pre-school education a priority.

Since then significant developments in the sector have occurred. Clark and Waller (2007), record the following changes in early education and care:

• the increase in the quantity of provision;
• the relationship between care and education;
• the quality of provision;
• the appropriate curriculum for young children;
• the training of professionals.

(Clark and Waller, 2007, p.11)

The increase in provision can be traced back to the National Childcare Strategy (1997). Its intention was to link local authorities with the private and voluntary sector in order to extend and improve provision and increased opportunities for children. This resulted in the creation of Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships (EYDCPs) within each local authority and a range of provision including statutory maintained nursery schools, privately funded crèches, childminders and nurseries as well as voluntary pre-schools and crèches. Extended (wrap-around) school care was introduced more recently as an initiative of Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003), which has set targets for all schools to meet this provision by 2010.

The integration of care and education also began in 1997 and continues today through the EYDCPs. A primary function of an EYDCP is to ‘enhance the care, play and educational experience of young children by bringing together the maintained, private and voluntary sectors’ (adapted from DfEE, 2001, p.3). The development and role of EYDCP in defining local services for families and young children are supported and complemented by the aims of the government’s Sure Start initiative (2004). This initiative for tackling child poverty was to focus resources on those young children and babies considered to be disadvantaged and therefore to promote their physical, intellectual and social development in order to ‘break the cycle of disadvantage for the current generation of young children’ (Sure Start, 2004, p.2). The Children’s Plan (DCSF, 2007) aims to build on the current entitlement of free early education and childcare and ‘extend the offer of up to 15 hours of free early education and childcare to 20,000 2-year-olds in the most disadvantaged communities’ (DCSF, 2007, p.9).

The regulation and inspection of the quality of provision is the responsibility of the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). As a result of the Childcare Act 2006 all provision must be both registered with Ofsted and, from September 2008, deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which is the framework for the education and welfare of young children from birth to 5 years. In order to ensure a consistent approach to the inspection of the EYFS, Ofsted will align its Inspection Framework to the delivery of the EYFS whether in settings or schools. In addition, the trial by Ofsted of self-evaluation forms for settings was positive, and a revised self-evaluation form will now be included in the inspection of settings from September 2008.

Over recent years there have been significant developments in the integration of care and education. The Childcare Act 2006 introduces the EYFS, which is the first-ever legislative framework for Early Years and childcare. The EYFS aims to remove any distinction between learning and care, so reflecting an approach that the best practitioners have always taken. Building on previous developments in the curriculum,

The Foundation Stage (EYFS) brings together: Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (2000), the Birth to Three Matters (2002) framework and the National Standards for Under 8s Daycare and Childminding (2003), building a coherent and flexible approach to care and learning.

(DfES, 2007a)

The Childcare Act (2006) sets out the context for the delivery of the EYFS, and it is within this context that the role of the EYP makes such a significant contribution. EYPs will be responsible for leading and supporting their colleagues in the implementation of the EYFS. Their success in this role is crucial in ensuring that the settings and communities within which they work ‘deliver the EYFS to an excellent standard’ (DfES, 2007b, p.9 ). Chapter 3, Part 1 considers both the context that supports the delivery of the EYFS and how the role of the EYP is linked to the successful implementation of the EYFS.

CWDC is committed to creating a workforce that is well trained, supported and highly motivated. Drawing on the outcomes from Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003), it has ambitious plans to create a workforce of graduate and non-graduate staff with defined roles who by working together will raise the quality of provision for children and their families. The focus of this book is the newly created graduate role of the EYP. The EYP will need to demonstrate high-level skills and knowledge, as well as those skills which are crucial to leading and supporting others in their practice. The Guidance to the Standards (CWDC, 2008a) sets out the expectations for anyone wishing to achieve EYP Status and will be referred to throughout this book.

What follows is a case study written by an EYP. Dawn achieved EYP Status in February 2007 and in the case study gives an account of a day in her life as an EYP.

Meet one of today’s Professionals

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CASE STUDY

Dawn works as the EYP at Roundabout Christian Pre-School, a Church group with two settings, one offering full day care for 50 weeks a year and the other offering more traditional pre-school sessions during term time only. Dawn works at the full day care setting, and her role includes visiting the pre-school, supporting the work of the Supervisor and making sure the group’s ethos is reflected in both settings. In this account she explains how achieving EYP Status has caused her to become a more reflective practitioner. She also acknowledges that, while the everyday issues that impact on how she leads and supports her staff have not gone away, she has now gained confidence to approach things differently in order to achieve better outcomes for children.

A day in the life of an Early Years Professional

As you would expect my day begins at home. I have three children of my own to sort out at the start of each day, two teenagers, and one young adult who is in the process of moving out and getting married. I’m usually the last in the bathroom so that I can tidy as I come out and again last in the kitchen for the same reason. On a good day I leave home at around 7.50 without having to answer the phone. More commonly at the moment and due to the current virus epidemic the phone rings with a message from a member of staff who is unable to come to work. This reminds me of the critical incident I had to write about as part of the written tasks, and one that has to be dealt with in my role of EYP.

First job on arrival at work is to check the rota and replace the member of staff if possible. We are lucky enough to be able to run with higher ratios than required by Ofsted. I consider that a ratio of ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Contributors
• Foreword from the series editors
• 1 Setting the scene: the modern-day workforce
• 2 The role of the Early Years Professional
• 3 The Standards
• 4 Assessment overview and identifying preparatory support
• 5 Gateway Review
• 6 The written tasks and all the supporting evidence
• 7 The setting visit
• 8 Continuing professional development for Early Years Professionals
• References
• Index