Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 152
Make career development for early years practitioners an urgent priority to attract and retain staff.
Recommendation
Early years professionals are vitally important. We recommend career development for early years practitioners be made an urgent priority in order to attract and retain more people in the profession. We are concerned about lack of parity of esteem between early years settings and primary schools.
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the importance of early years professionals and states that workforce support and career development remain a priority, outlining existing programmes and ongoing efforts to explore how best to recruit and retain staff, including funding training for up to 7,000 early years SENCOs.
Paragraph Reference:
152
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The early years workforce makes a huge contribution to young children’s lives, and supporting the workforce continues to be a priority for DfE. We offer many opportunities for early years practitioners to develop their careers, from formal training routes to ongoing CPD. What has been announced to date is the first step towards supporting the sector to build the workforce it needs. We will continue to work with providers and local authorities to understand how we can ensure they are ready to deliver the new entitlement offer for parents and children. This includes continuing to explore how we best support the early years sector to recruit and retain early years staff whilst working closely with the sector to develop plans to grow and improve the quality of the workforce. As part of the Government’s focus on early years career development, the Early Years Education Recovery Programme continues to provide a package of training, qualifications, expert guidance, and targeted support for the early years sector to focus on the development of the youngest and most disadvantaged children. We are funding a range of programmes, including the training of up to 7,000 early years Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) resulting in an accredited Level 3 EY SENCO qualification. This training is for SENCOs working in group-based and childminder settings, and for those due to take up the role of SENCO.