Workforce plans revealed
The next steps for the children's workforce were set out last week by the Government.
An expert group has also been established with representatives from across the children's workforce to help the Government develop a long-term strategy, to be published in the autumn.
Building Brighter Futures: Next Steps for the Children's Workforce includes details of how the Government will spend the £305m investment in early years, announced in the Children's Plan last December, to provide graduate leaders in private, voluntary and independent settings and meet the aim of having an Early Years Professional in every full daycare setting by 2015. From September 2008, the Children's Workforce Development Council will pilot additional routes to EYPS for candidates with different experiences and qualification levels.
CWDC will also run campaigns to promote EYPS as a career, on a local level from this summer, with a national advertising campaign later this year.
CWDC has started a new qualifications list for the Early Years Register to help practitioners with Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications deliver the EYFS, and will produce an action plan to increase the proportion of the workforce with a Level 3 qualification.
Children's secretary Ed Balls said, 'Everyone who works with a child or young person or with their family has a role to play in supporting their development. The way in which they are able to provide that support will be critical to the achievement of our aspirations for children and young people in the 21st century.'
Alongside the workforce strategy, the Government has published a professional development framework for leaders and managers of children's services, specifying what knowledge, skills and behaviours are relevant for these positions.
An implementation pack including details of how the Every Child Matters outcomes fit with the Children's Plan, a timeline, and notes for practitioners can be downloaded at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/publications/childrensplan/implement.shtml.
