EYP Update: Local Authority Focus - Nottinghamshire - Badge of honour

Nottinghamshire Early Years Professionals were awarded with specially designed badges and certificates at a recent celebration staged by the county council to raise the profile of EYPs.

The presentations were made by Pauline Jones, CWDC's senior programme manager for early years. The idea for a badge came from Alison Hill, early years and childcare service manager at Nottinghamshire County Council.

Ms Hill says, 'Listening to our EYPs, we were aware that we wanted to create something that would allow them to demonstrate their achievement and would be a visible talking point for children, parents and staff.

'There are 263 settings in Nottinghamshire and we have 45 EYPs in post, but taking into account the people on the various pathways the figure is up to 62 per cent of settings.'

Other authorities are now intending to award badges to raise the profile of EYPs as well.

Nottinghamshire has clear priorities in the distribution of the Graduate Leader Fund and requires providers to pass a proportion to individual practitioners to support their study and/or enhance salary. Foundation degree funding is £1,500 for the setting and £1,000 for the individual; the Quality Premium for people working towards Early Years Professional Status is £2,000 for the setting and £1,500 for the individual; for EYPs it is £2,500 for the setting and £5,000 for the individual.

Validated EYPs are supported in a variety of ways, including a course on inspirational leadership, an opportunity to attend an EYPS network or to attend the Early Years Foundation Stage Network alongside Foundation Stage teachers, and assistance with projects to raise quality in their settings.

'To reach the 2015 figure, we recognised that we may need to encourage people into the sector who have not previously considered childcare as a career option,' says Ms Hill. 'We have a "Thinking of working with children" course that is now being attended by graduates who, possibly due to the recession, are re-evaluating their careers.

'These individuals are now our first cohort of graduates on the full-time EYPS pathway delivered by Northampton University.'

According to the latest statistics collected by CWDC, there were 4,085 practitioners validated as EYPs up to 18 January, with a further 3,600 awaiting validation. A regional breakdown shows the region with most EYPs is the North West.

Practitioners validated as EYPs to 18 January 2010
East of England: 353
East Midlands: 299
London: 467
North East: 199
North West: 689
Not specified: 90
South East: 553
South West: 672
West Midlands: 361
Yorkshire & Humberside: 402
Total: 4,085

Figures collated before Christmas show that while in training for EYPS, just under half of candidates (3,747) work in daycare settings. About 1,200 practitioners (representing 16 per cent of the total) are listed as full-time students, while 15 per cent work in children's centres, 11 per cent are employed in sessional settings, a further 7 per cent are local authority staff, 3 per cent are childminders and one per cent work in Further Education colleges.