EYP Update: Graduate Leader Fund Q&A - Lead the way
WHAT IS THE GRADUATE LEADER FUND?
The GLF is part of the Sure Start, Early Years and Childcare Grant. The funding is provided to help secure more graduate Early Years Professionals to lead practice in settings in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sectors. The CWDC is helping to create the supply through developing more graduates with EYPS while local authorities are passporting funding to settings to support them to recruit, train or retain graduate practice leaders.
HOW MUCH MONEY IS AVAILABLE?
The total amount available between 2008 and 2011 is £305m, made up of £232m for settings, routed via local authorities, and £73m for the CWDC to deliver EYPS training and accreditation. The local authority element includes £57m from the Children's Plan to encourage faster employment of graduates in the most disadvantaged areas.
WHAT TARGETS HAS THE GOVERNMENT SET?
The Government's aim is to have one EYP in every full daycare setting, and two in settings in disadvantaged areas, by 2015. The Government has agreed in principle to make funding available until this date. The GLF focuses on the PVI sector because while 80 per cent of providers are in this sector only 4 per cent of staff are graduates, compared to around 40 per cent of early years staff in maintained schools.
How can settings apply for the GLF?
Settings apply to their local authority. Local authorities should have worked with their PVI providers to create a local GLF policy which sets out conditions and levels of funding available and which matches local priorities and demands.
What level of funding can settings expect?
The GLF has been allocated to local authorities on a phased basis (increasing each year) and the grant is being linked directly to anticipated numbers of PVI settings in the final year (2010-11). Councils will have taken account of local market conditions and competitive pay levels which incentivise both graduates and providers when setting their funding levels.
What can providers use the fund for?
Some local authorities may give providers a free hand on spending, while others may set out some conditions on how providers can spend the fund. The DCSF, in its guidelines, suggests providers consider using the GLF to: contribute to salary costs for newly-employed or existing graduates; help to retain graduates by offering continuing professional development; and support an existing staff member to become an EYP, enhancing their salary while they are training and when they achieve EYPS.
What conditions must providers meet?
Local authorities will set their own criteria, but they should include settings agreeing to employ a graduate - whether from outside or by 'growing' their own - within a specific but reasonable time frame, and they might ask providers to give a commitment to improve the quality of provision and/or become members of a local or national quality improvement scheme.
What are the main issues for local authorities?
This depends on the dynamics of their local market - they must strike a balance between investing in graduates who are 'new' to the sector, and 'growing' graduates from within existing settings, from among leaders with level 3 as their highest qualification.
How can local authorities persuade reluctant providers to invest in graduate leadership?
Convincing PVI settings that the GLF can help them, when they may not initially see the benefits or feasibility of investing in graduate leadership, is a crucial task for local authorities. An important economic factor is the improved quality of provision in the setting, attracting more families and also career progression which can help retain good staff.
- For further information contact your local authority.
