The Children's Workforce Development Council recently phoned to ask whether our setting would be taking up Early Years Professional Status training.
We've run our not-for-profit pre-school for 20 years and are both aged 50-plus. Annette trained as a teacher many years ago and is our experienced SEN co-ordinator. We've admitted children with many special needs, including cerebral palsy, visual impairment and life-threatening disease.
Annette has written Individual Education Plans for these children and worked with parents and outside agencies to provide quality care and education.
My qualifications include ten O and A Levels, Diploma in Pre-school Practice, D32/33 NVQ Assessor qualification, and I'm a Bristol Standard QA assessor/ validator.
We manage five staff members - four have achieved early years qualifications while with us, and a new member is eager to train for a level 2 qualification. I am also an after-school club trustee for one of only two such settings to achieve 'outstanding' in its Ofsted report.
We regularly attend training to update our knowledge and were recently awarded a certificate of excellent practice by our EYDCP.
However, we are not eligible for EYP training because we do not hold level 5 qualifications. Working over 36 hours a week and earning about half the national average wage, we have not the time, energy or financial impetus to study for a Foundation Degree to enable us to undergo further training.
Many settings must be in similar situations. Perhaps this is why the take up of EYP training and the Transformation Fund is so low?
A degree is not the only route to achieving quality for young children.
Experience, patience, tolerance, understanding and kindness are all needed.
I invite any Government representative to visit and judge whether a graduate leader with EYP status would enhance our pre-school.
