NDNA’s Childcare Works will offer run in partnership with Catterick Garrison in England and Hightown Barracks in Wales to offer a training pathway to a career in early education and care.
The charity has been awarded £71,800 funding from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust’s Supporting Partners programme to deliver the training and employment project.
Participants on the programme will be employed by NDNA as trainee nursery assistants and paid for 16 weeks.
The Childcare Works programme starts with a four-week training period on specific skills and knowledge that a trainee nursery assistant would require to be able to start working in a setting followed by a 12-week placement in a nursery.
The first project will launch at Hightown Barracks, Wrexham, in August and will recruit the first cohort of five participants in September. A second cohort of five participants will be recruited at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire starting mid-January 2025.
NDNA is looking for nurseries across the Wrexham and Catterick areas who are interested in a recruitment opportunity and can offer a 12-week placement.
NDNA said that partners of serving personnel and veterans can bring life experience and unique skills to a childcare setting with the right knowledge and training.
Childcare Works assesses and recruits participants based on their aptitude, informal experience of childcare and a willingness to undertake training, rather than an existing track record of working in the sector.
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said, ‘Recruiting partners of serving military personnel and veterans provides the opportunity to engage with a highly capable talent pool and address the staffing pressures within the early years workforce.
‘Our Childcare Works programme develops practical skills and provides placement experience offering a cost-effective way for an early years provider to develop new talent and the opportunity to create a more diverse workforce. Having experienced, professional staff to deliver the high-quality early education and care that our youngest children need and deserve is more important than ever.’
NDNA’s Childcare Works project has been running in Wales for over five years.
Since 2019 the project has supported and mentored around 200 trainee nursery assistants, with 116 going on to secure employment and further qualifications.
