EARLY YEARS PROFESSIONAL STATUS
To be awarded Early Years Professional Status (EYPS), you will need to hold a full degree or recognised equivalent. There are four pathways to becoming an EYP:
1. Short Extended Professional Development (EPD) Pathway (six months part time)
2. Long Extended Professional Development (EPD) Pathway (15 months part time)
3. Full Training Pathway (12 months full time, including validation)
4. Validation (assessment-only pathway, four months part time)
HONOURS DEGREES
There are some 40 universities and higher education institutions offering early years degrees. In addition to Early Childhood Studies (see below), degrees in Childhood Education and Culture, Education and Child Development and Health with Child Development are offered. Most are three-year courses with an entry requirement of at least two A-levels or equivalent, although each institution will have its own entry requirements and syllabus. Some universities will accept students with work-related experience rather than formal academic qualifications.
BA (HONS) IN EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
The focus of this degree is on the academic knowledge and professional awareness that is required by those who work to meet the needs of young children and their families.
Course provider: Universities and colleges - check with UCAS.
Entry qualifications: Five GCSE passes, although entry is also available to those who may have no formal qualifications but who can demonstrate either relevant work or voluntary experience.
Duration: Three years full time.
Methods of study: Work-placed visits feature in some units.
Course content: Range of core and compulsory units which enable the student to select a route appropriate to them. Includes social, psychological and physical perspectives on child development and issues arising from working with children in a variety of professional settings.
Career moves: Progression to a range of professional careers or postgraduate study in education, social work or health studies. Careers now span children's centre positions, health roles, social care, special needs and management positions in a wide range of early years settings.
CASE STUDY: DEPUTY MANAGER: PAULINE MCLOUGHLIN
Pauline McLoughlin, deputy manager at Fernbank Nursery in Blackburn, has just been awarded Early Years Professional Status (EYPS). She was featured in the 2005 issue of Training Today, when she was embarking on a foundation degree. She now has 12 years' experience in the sector.
'I wanted to do it because it is a high-level qualification. I know teachers in children's centres who are undertaking the EYP status despite already being qualified teachers. I had just finished my degree and decided to study for it straight after that. It was more time-consuming than difficult. It was a very different type of study to doing a degree. I am hoping that as more people become Early Years Professionals, it will start to become more recognised by parents. At the moment, most of them still don't know what EYP status is. I think the Government needs to do more to publicise it to the general public,' she says.
Before securing EYP status, Pauline studied for a BA Hons degree in Childhood Studies at the University of Bolton.
But to get on to the degree, she first had to do the Foundation Degree in Early Childcare and Education.
It has been a long and hard road for Pauline, who continued to work full time, cramming her studies into the evenings and weekends.
However, she feels takng the degree in this way has really benefited her.
'I am more focused in terms of time management. It has disciplined me and really made me prioritise. It has really helped me develop professionally.'
She admits there were a couple of times when she was up working on an essay at four in the morning when she thought of giving it all up. But luckily her determination - coupled with good family support - helped her to keep going.
'It also helped that my children were slightly older,' she says.
For the moment, Pauline has decided to take a break from studying. However, it won't be for good as she seems to have acquired a thirst for knowledge.
'I am thinking of doing a masters in philosophy and of carrying out research into the early years,' she says.
'I want to look at how boys develop their imaginations through role play. But I am not going to do anything for a couple of years.'
She will also continue to update her training on a regular basis.
She adds, 'It is always important to be aware of what is available. I mentor all the students that come into the nursery and do placements. I really enjoy mentoring them as it enables me to draw on some of the training and studying that I have done.'
