Interview - Diana Lawton, nursery MD and apprenticeship campaigner

HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED IN THE TRAILBLAZER GROUP?

Laura Upton [chair of the early years apprenticeship trailblazer group] and Hayley Wood [formerly of the University of Derby] felt that the Level 5 Apprenticeship was needed urgently to meet recruitment, retention and quality issues within the sector, and they created a working group to explore becoming a trailblazer. As an early years professional within Leicestershire, I knew Laura well and she invited me along over four years ago and I’ve been engaged ever since. I have always been a passionate advocate for training and development in the sector and understand the impact it has on the learning experiences and opportunities for children. I also knew many of the practitioners that worked with us at Our Monkey Club would prefer a work-based route rather than attending a university setting and so I felt it would have a significant impact on their access to development opportunities.

WHAT CHALLENGES DID YOU FACE WHEN DEVELOPING THE L5 APPRENTICESHIP DUTIES?

Laura and Hayley wanted the group to be as inclusive as possible and invited a wide range of employers and organisations. When we met, there was sometimes upwards of 40 people and everyone had a slightly different perspective, and we were all there to advocate for the factors we felt were important. These meetings have spanned over four years and have sometimes lasted for two days at a time and so the discussions have been extensive.

This meant there was a great deal of negotiation regarding every word we wrote and the definition of every expectation of the role. We worked on the duties and the knowledge, skills and behaviour statements for many months and each time someone new joined, the discussions would start anew. This did feel like we were trapped in a never-ending cycle of review! However, we have produced two apprenticeships that have been tried and tested by so many incredible people and organisations over and over again that we are now confident we have produced something of value for the sector.

YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT STUDENTS WITH HIGHER EDUCATION EARLY YEARS QUALIFICATIONS HAVING THE THEORETICAL, BUT NOT PRACTICAL, KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS…

At Our Monkey Club, we have recruited from college and universities on occasions, and while the practitioners have extensive knowledge, often their professional skills and behaviours are under-developed. This was echoed by all employers that joined the trailblazer, and the consensus was that it often took at least a year to develop those skills and behaviours to the standard we would expect a Level 3 practitioner to be capable of. Many practitioners do not have access to placements that allow them to be a key person and understand the responsibility of the role, to speak with parents or attend multi-disciplinary meetings or even complete summative reports or planning. Therefore, many graduates can understand what they need to do but not how to do it. We need to provide an alternative route that provides all the essential development opportunities to be able to do this job in reality.

HOW MUCH INTEREST HAS THERE BEEN IN THE L5 APPRENTICESHIP?

As of 22 February 2022, there were 612 apprentices accessing our standards, which feels amazing. In my setting alone, I have five practitioners undertaking this apprenticeship, and while the uptake has been great within companies that know about the standard, often with multiple practitioners enrolled, this has not been widely advertised. I am currently working with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and hopefully the Department for Education to ensure more companies and practitioners know about these opportunities. At Nursery World’s Business Summit, when editor in chief Liz Roberts asked the entire room who had practitioners on the Level 5, there was a very limited response. When she then asked who would be interested after hearing more about it, most of the hands in the room shot up. It was a really reassuring experience and refocused my attention on ensuring the word gets out to the whole sector.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE FEEDBACK FROM EMPLOYERS/LEARNERS UNDERTAKING AN L5 APPRENTICESHIP?

It has been wonderful. The Best Practice Network stated it was the best early years programme they had experienced, which was amazing feedback. I have been working with two training providers for my learners and they have both created very flexible and responsive programmes to match settings’ needs and stated that the design of the standard allows them to work respectfully and effectively with employers and settings.

My practitioners are loving the opportunities and, while they were all daunted at first to study at Level 5, they have all been able to develop work plans that use their interests and motivations and enhance their current practice, rather than the work being separate and in addition to their daily role. They have all chosen projects to improve the settings and then will use these projects to develop leaderful practice as they share their findings, changes and understanding with other practitioners and management. They worked through the knowledge, skills and behaviours to ensure their project was designed to meet the standards and were quite surprised to see that a project they would naturally choose to do within practice would meet so many of the criteria.

WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE LEVEL 6 APPRENTICESHIP?

Laura and I met with the review panel only this week and it has been agreed that it can progress to formal submissions, so we are back at work as soon as possible. It had been shelved for a while due to a focus on the Level 5 and issues with the apprenticeship title. We had to prove employers wanted this type of apprenticeship and that it is significantly different to the Level 5, and we have finally reached agreement on these issues. I would ask all your readers to watch out for the consultation in the summer. We would love your feedback to make sure it really meets the current and future needs of our sector.

HOW MUCH DEMAND IS THERE FOR A LEVEL 6?

As a sector, we know the value practitioners working at level 6 has on the impact on our children and this has been evidenced in every wide-ranging review since The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (2004). As employers, we all recognise the value for Level 6 practitioners who can work at a strategic level, making decisions that are both practical and evidenced based to develop the pedagogical approach of the setting. This is the first "I" in Ofsteds 3i’s and as a sector, we are being asked to have the skills to develop and articulate our "intent" and evidence how we have come to these decisions." This requires sound leadership to both create the vision and pedagogical focus by understanding and synthesising the vast evidence base available to the sector, and to create a cohesive and coherent approach that is both practical (implementation) and effective (impact). To be able to do this successfully, we are aiming for our Early Years Pedagogical Leads to have the experiences and support they need to develop their knowledge, skills and professional approach to feel confidence in the choices they make and to translate this into exemplary practice.  We know that early years university courses are still popular and interest in the Early Years Teacher Status (EYITT) is growing again. We need a progression route that does not take our valuable practitioners away from our children but still enables this vital professional development pathway and most of all, a recognition of the value these Early Years Pedagogical Leads have for our sector and for all of our children.