The extension of the Early Years Professional Development Programme will see £10 million invested in 2021/22 in high-quality training and professional development support for staff in nurseries and pre-schools, or childminders.
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The programme, launched in 2019 with £20 million, is part of the government’s wider efforts to narrow the attainment gap in the early years, which has stalled over the past two years.
The DfE says the investment will fund the training of up to 2,000 early years practitioners and teachers in the new areas, reaching up to 32,000 pre-school children.
Details of the authorities that will benefit from the scheme’s extension will be announced later in the autumn, the DfE states.
The programme is delivered by Education Development Trust in partnership with training provider Elklan. It provides evidence-based, fully-funded professional development for early years practitioners from schools and private, voluntary and independent early years settings.
Children’s minister Vicky Ford said: “We know high-quality early years education can make an enormous difference to the outcomes of our youngest children, not just in their language and numeracy but also their social and emotional development, helping to give them the best possible start to life. This is more important than ever as we build back from the pandemic.
“This programme will play a central role in equipping our important early years staff with the high-quality training they deserve, so that they can support children at the very beginning of their education, enabling them to build on these skills with confidence as they grow up.”
The department has also confirmed that it provide online professional development training, developed by the Anna Freud Centre, targeted at personal, social and emotional development for two to four-year-olds in direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure that children’s mental health and wellbeing is prioritised. The training also includes a focus on staff wellbeing and will be rolled out as part of the second phase of PDP from January 2022.
Stella Ziolkowski, director of quality and training at National Day Nurseries Association, said: “Any investment in professional development of early years practitioners as part of educational recovery spending is a welcome step. Research has repeatedly shown how important staff qualifications, knowledge and experience are for children’s outcomes in early education.
“Children have missed out on a lot as a result of the pandemic. Providers are telling us that personal, social and emotional development is an absolutely crucial area to focus on. Getting early education right is the best time to invest in children’s futures as it is vital for their life chances.
“We already know that providers are struggling to survive. The amount of money invested so far is insufficient for the educational recovery effort that’s needed in early years for nurseries to continue offering the high quality places that parents and children need.
“One thing the government could do to help the sector straight away and focus on the life chances for those from disadvantaged backgrounds would be bringing the early years pupil premium in line with the primary school rate.”
Meanwhile, a research project has been launched to explore how children up to the age of five can get the most out of early years education, whether that is delivered at home, in day nurseries, or in their first months at school.
The University of Plymouth project will also explore how early years educators can be best supported to provide this education and take advantage of existing and new best practice in teaching methods.
Funded by the Montessori Group, the project was launched on the same day as the Department for Education’s revised Early Years Foundation Stage framework comes into force. That framework sets the standards that school and childcare providers must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth up to the age of five.
