1998 Early Years Development Plan
SECTION H - TRAINING & STAFF DEVELOPMENT
Current Provision
Details of courses currently on offer within the Bristol area were collated and analysed, and a few examples are listed on the chart included in the Appendices.
Directories, prospectuses and leaflets were considered and discussed and examples which are available, if required, are listed below:
 | Social Services Directory |
| BAND report (Bristol Association for Neighbourhood Daycare Ltd) |
| University of West of England documentation |
| Bristol University documentation |
| HORIZON Childcare and Training Enterprise Project |
| Education Department directory of Continuing Professional Development |
| Bath Spa University College information |
| Rachael Underwood - information (freelance trainer who works with Bristol Education Department and Social Services Day Nurseries) |
| Pre-school Learning Alliance documentation |
| College of Care & Early Education prospectus |
Training opportunities currently available to :
A. Childminders
 | as part of registration : 6 x 2 hour sessions, can be used as prior learning for NVQ Level 2/3 in Child Care. Free of charge provided by Social Services; |
| post registration : childminders become members of Fourways Childminding Association on registration which offers training or sometimes organise training sessions for themselves with grants from the National Childminding Association. |
| a pilot scheme is currently underway which offers a two hour training session for childminders each year in connection with their annual inspection. |
| occasional training days are offered to childminders with sponsored children (this is under review and may become more formalised. |
B. LEA Nursery Schools/Classes and Infant, Junior and Primary Schools
| five In service days plus other training opportunities throughout the year; |
| cost of courses is free or funded through the Standards Fund devolved to schools. |
| discussion has taken place between the Section Eleven team and health visitors and speech therapists exploring the possibility of joint training. |
| some of the Section Eleven training has been made available to playgroups and other Early Years groups in other local authorities. |
C. Social Services Day Nurseries
| staff apply to Social Services for funding from a central training budget to facilitate training; |
| also some free training offered by Social Services. |
D. Pre-school settings
| Courses provided by Pre-school Learning Alliance which are funded through the Further Education Funding Council, and are available to staff in pre-school settings, including the Diploma in Pre-school Practice and Certificate in Pre-school Practice. |
E. Private nurseries
| staff apply for places on training provided by independent trainer or by the local authority but the private nursery has to meet the costs. |
F. Playworkers
| all current training is provided by the voluntary sector and focuses on staff working with 5 - 12 year olds; |
| support needs e.g. signers/translators are met, creches provided and childcare costs met; |
| training - providers are part of local/national networks e.g. |
| Greater Bristol NVQ (Playwork) Assessment Centre |
| National Centre for Playwork Education (Cheltenham) |
| Joint National Committee on Training for Playwork |
| Horizon Project |
| Children and Young Persons Services Network |
| funding from various sources including trusts, European Union and local authority grants |
| demand for training increasing with expansion of out of school provision |
G. HORIZON Childcare and Training Enterprise Project
| although funding for the training through this project finished in December 1997 the following resources are available: |
| a matrix of progression routes in childcare training in the Bristol area mapped by Learning Partnership West. |
| a new foundation BTEC in Childcare & Play through the College of Care and Early Education. |
Issues
| the difficulty in releasing staff to attend training during session times in terms of maintaining staffing ratios |
| the cost of funding appropriate supply cover if staff are released |
| the difficulty in finding appropriate qualified and readily available supply staff |
| is it reasonable to expect staff to attend training outside of the normal working day |
| the distribution of notice of training opportunities appears to be ad hoc and often too late to enable attendance to be arranged |
| eligibility for courses can be restricted e.g. only teaching staff and not non-teaching staff from the same setting |
| the private sector, in particular, does not have a recognised source of advice regarding who are appropriately experienced and qualified trainers |
| the private and voluntary sector are not easily able to access Local Authority training |
| group training is not necessarily the most effective way of meeting the training needs of an individual setting |
| training should be matched to the current needs of staff but also to recognise the need for staff to develop new/transferable skills |
| the existing variety of funding systems for different training is not easy to understand and does not enhance access to training by a variety of settings |
| lack of clarity regarding the definition of a Aqualified teacher@ or of an Aearly years specialist@ and therefore difficult to identify consequent training implications |
| lack of clarity regarding the variety of qualifications such as NVQs, BTECs, NNEB etc and the need for appropriate Access training for these qualifications |
| the need to consider pre-employment training as well as training for those already working with young children |
| the need for infant/primary schools to consider the employment of suitably qualified/experienced staff in nursery and reception classes |
| many teacher training courses only cover the age range 3 years upwards important to develop flexible training models not always Aone-off@ sessions but accompanied by support for implementation and feedback on practice within the early years setting. |
| the current provision of training is very diverse and it should be recognised that what is an issue for one agency is not necessarily so for other agencies. |
| there is a need to recognise that access to initial training is particularly important for people from black and minority ethnic groups. Black children need to be in services in which black groups are well represented. |
| training at all levels should address the issues of race and diversity. |
| there is also a need to increase the number of men working in early years. |
Note: It should be noted that there may well be other issues not listed above which will be raised during the course of further research and discussion around the subject of training and staff development.
KEY FINDINGS
| There is a need for a co-ordinated system of distribution of information about training opportunities to reach all early years settings. |
| Many valuable training opportunities are not currently being taken up due to the difficulty of releasing staff, and of finding and funding supply cover. |
| Much training is currently being duplicated for staff in different types of settings as the training is being planned and provided for groups of staff in isolation. |
| There is a need to balance the current training needs of staff with the need to provide staff with the opportunity to develop transferable skills. |
| There is little opportunity at present for staff from different settings to come together to share training opportunities and their expertise unless organised on an ad hoc basic by individual establishments. |
| Many of the existing training opportunities are provided by different bodies funded through different systems and the most effective use of expertise and resources is not necessarily being made. |
| Some settings do not have access to a source of advice about whether the training which is available is appropriate to meet the needs of the setting or is provided by suitably qualified and experienced trainers. |
| The training needs of carers working from their own homes need to be included in any strategy i.e. foster carers, childminders. |
Forward A:Introduction B:Background C:Early Years in Bristol D:The Partnership & Consultation E:Audit of Need & Provision F: Quality & Inspection G: Curriculum & role of Qualified Teachers H: Training & Staff Development I: Family Support/ Parent Involvement & Under 3's J: SEN K: Integration L: Affordable Childcare M: Information Services Conclusions Annexes Executive Summary/Action Plan Supplementary Info