Experienced childcarers whose qualifications do not meet the requirements of the new daycare standards can gain from a fresh award, says Mary Evans
Afast-track Level 3 qualification is being launched in September to enable 25,000 experienced childcare practitioners to meet the national daycare standards, as well as assisting the Government in meeting its targets for expanding the provision of high quality childcare places. Candidates can choose one of two routes, in early years or playwork.
The first candidates enrolling for the new Accreditation of Prior Experience and Learning (APEL) awards should be qualified by Christmas under the scheme funded by the Sure Start Unit and SPRITO.
The awards are aimed at early years practitioners who gained qualifications before the 1989 Children Act and experienced staff who, although they are operating at NVQ Level 3, do not hold formal qualifications at that level.
A Department for Education and Skills spokeswoman says, 'The Government announced an expansion in the number of childcare places last year and is committed to the provision of quality care by a qualified workforce. People in charge and managing settings have to have at least a Level 3 qualification, but the DfES is aware that there are settings where they don't have this qualification, despite the fact that they may have a lot of experience.'
A spokeswoman for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority adds, 'The qualification was produced to enable recognition of work-based learning. It will provide a suitable route to qualification for a sizable chunk of the workforce which might otherwise have left, since the childcare settings they worked for would not have met the daycare standards with their lack of qualifications.
'The development received the active support of QCA and Ofsted. Its aim is to provide a mechanism for the rigorous assessment of key areas of knowledge and understanding which might be expected of a highly experienced practitioner maintaining currency of professionalism over a long period of work. The sector believes some 20,000 to 25,000 practitioners might benefit from the qualification.'
The QCA, awarding bodies and training providers stress this is not a soft option and does not undermine the conventional NVQ. There are tight entry criteria (see box) and candidates who do not meet them will be advised to undertake the standard NVQ route.
The new awards will only have a shelf-life of five years and will be reviewed after three. The QCA spokesman adds, 'Responsibility for maintaining the standard of the qualification will rest with the awarding bodies which are already working together to assure consistency of delivery. Childcare qualifications will be subject to this year's programme of monitoring, and delivery of this qualification will form part of the review.'
In the pilot, people were going through in 12 weeks, says Gill Mason, City and Guilds Affinity adviser for the north-west and its project manager for the Apel awards. 'It looks like an easy option, but it is not. They have to meet the criteria on employment experience. They have to produce a reflective account of their practice against ten questions and demonstrate how they have been operating at this level.'
The award will provide experienced practitioners with recognition of their professional competence, says Deborah Robbins of the training provider Childcare Study. She is planning to offer the award online as candidates are, by virtue of the age requirement, likely to have family commitments and might find it easier to work from home than attend a study centre.
One practitioner looking to enrol for APEL is mother of three Liz Bolt, who works as leader of the Roberttown Community Centre Pre-School in Liversedge, West Yorkshire. She says, 'I started on the DPP (Diploma in Pre-School Practice) last year. The course runs over two years. Unfortunately, at the end of the first year I was ill.
'I have been at the pre-school for six years: three as chairman and three as leader. I went on the DPP because the Government had said people needed the NVQ 3. Everybody panicked and jumped on the first course they could find, but we were constantly repeating things I already knew.
'I have been on PLA courses and local education authority courses. I have done an awful lot of training in the six-and-a-half years I have been involved in childcare but have no separate childcare qualification. If I was able to do this on the internet, it would answer all my prayers.'
Further information
Negotiations are under way with the following awarding bodies interested in offering the course:
- Sandra Kirby, Affinity administrator, City & Guilds Affinity, tel: 0113 380 8563, fax: 0113 380 8505, e-mail: sandrak@city-and-guilds.co.uk
- Sue Georgious, NOCN officer, National Open College Network, tel: 02476 524 728, fax: 02476 524 680, e-mail: nocn@derby.ac.uk
- Customer Services, Edexcel Foundation, tel: 0870 240 9800, fax: 020 7393 4176, e-mail: enquiries@edexcel.org.uk
- Customer Service, CACHE, tel: 01727 847 636, fax: 01727 867 609, e-mail: info@cache.org.uk
- See also www.playwork.org.uk/news/apel.pdf .
