A new practice review from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) looks at what professional development (PD) and support programmes are available to the early years sector in England.
According to the EEF, ensuring all early years settings can access effective, evidence-informed PD opportunities is key to improving the quality of education and care, closing the disadvantage gap and helping every child get the best start in life.
However its research reveals that childminders are far less frequently considered in the targeting and design of PD programmes. Just five of the 160 programmes identified in the review explicitly mentioned targeting childminders on their websites. The EEF says this raises concerns about ‘equitable access to relevant PD opportunities for this important part of the workforce’.
Led by CooperGibson Research, the review draws on the experiences of nearly 500 early years leaders and setting managers through an online survey and in-depth interviews.
Key findings reveal:
- Most settings are already engaging with professional development – a total of 83 per cent of respondents reported that they, or other early years practitioners from their settings, took part in at lead one PD programme over the past year.
- A small number of national programmes are the most commonly accessed –the most popular programmes in the last year were the Early Years Professional Development Programme and the Level 3 Early Years SENCO programme, both of which were previously funded as part of the Government’s Early Years Education Recovery programme.
- Communication and language is the most common focus of programmes currently accessed by settings, followed by personal, social and emotional development and early literacy. When asked about future PD needs for their setting, most respondents cited self-regulation and executive function and mental health and wellbeing of children.
- Budget constraints are the biggest cited barrier to accessing PD programmes, followed by time and staffing constraints.
- Just 11 per cent of settings reported using the Early Years Pupil Premium funding to support professional development.
The EEF is currently working with settings across England to evaluate a number of early years programmes, such as Speech and Language UK’s Early Talk Boost and Mastering Number. These programmes are either heavily subsidised or fully funded. To register your interest in taking part in trials click here
