What are the early years?

The early years age group describes children aged up to five. The first few years of a child’s life are crucial. Children need to be ready to start school, and that means they must have developed mentally, socially and emotionally. Working as an early years practitioner opens up an industry full of opportunities. Starting work in a childcare role gives you the chance to support children as they learn, develop and prepare for school. It’s a career path that could see you becoming self-employed, working in education, or securing a role that makes a difference in your local community. If you enjoy working with children or want to combine a new career with caring for your family, an early years role could be for you.

What are the different types of early years practitioner?

There are many different roles which fit under the umbrella of ‘early years’, and as more and more parents are going back to work rather than staying at home, there’s never been more demand for childcare. Early years practitioners can work in the following areas:

• Early years teacher: An early years teacher works with children aged 3-5. Tasks include planning lessons and activities and creating learning resources. You could be working in an infant or primary school, a children’s centre, or a nursery. If you do want to work in a school, you will first need to gain qualified teacher status (QTS).

• Nanny: A nanny looks after other people’s children in their home. You could work as a nanny only during the day, or live in the home of a family. As a nanny, you’ll be responsible for providing meals, planning activities and tasks like keeping toys tidy.

• Childminder: Childminders look after children at home. Childminding is a varied job, with flexible hours, which could involve looking after under-fives in the day and caring for older children when they aren’t at school.

• Pre-school assistant: Pre-schools are often attached to schools, whereas nurseries are likely to be privately run. They usually cater for older children and have a more educational focus which helps to prepare the children for school.

• Working in a nursery: Nurseries can be run by councils, privately, or in schools, colleges or businesses. Qualifications are essential to building a career in a nursery environment. In a group, a manager must hold at least a Level 3 qualification and at least half of all other childcare staff must hold a Level 2 qualification.

For more information on the various roles available :  https://www.cache.org.uk/for-learners/choosing-early-years-as-a-career

What is an early years practitioner’s role?

An early years practitioner is someone who works with young children in any school, nursery, or childcare environment. As an early year’s practitioner, your roles and responsibilities include:

• Encouraging learning and development, through play and teaching.

• Creating a secure environment, using imagination to help children to learn.

• Working with parents to support their children.

• Enabling children to build their literacy, language and numeracy skills.

• Monitoring progress and planning educational games.

• Putting together activities which will keep the children engaged throughout the day.

• Helping children get ready for the transition into a classroom environment.

• Helping children to become more independent when carrying out daily tasks.

• Creating the right balance between activities and down time.

What skills do you need to work in early years education?

If you plan to secure a career in early years education, you will need to be:

• Committed to working with children: Working with children is not for everyone, so if you plan to work in the early years, you must enjoy the company of children and be dedicated to child development.

• Patient: Working in this environment, you must be equipped to deal with children misbehaving and having tantrums. You must also have the patience to handle these situations calmly and effectively, without getting angry or wound up. 

• In touch with your inner child: Those who work with young children have to be able to see the world through a child’s eyes. Willingness to get involved with messy activities like sticking and painting is essential. Imagination and silliness will also come in handy.  

• Creative: Early years practitioners must have lots of ideas and strategies to make learning fun. Creatively thought out lesson and activity plans will help you to communicate your thoughts in a simple way which children can understand.

• Personable:  Building positive relationships with parents is something that you’ll need to be good at too. By communicating and working together, you can make sure a child is happy, healthy and gets all of the support they need, both from you and at home.

Often nursery nurses start their career by working as a nursery assistant under the supervision of more experienced staff. 

To become a qualified nursery nurse, a Level 2 or Level 3 childcare qualification is valid if you completed it before September 2014. Examples include Level 2 Certificate for the Children and Young People's Workforce, Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce or Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Workforce.

If you don't already have such a qualification, you will need to complete a Level 3 early years educator award which have been available since September 2014. Examples include:

• Level 3 Diploma in Childcare and Education 

• Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Practitioner 

• Level 3 Diploma in Children's Learning and Development 

• Level 3 Diploma in Montessori Pedagogy - Birth to Seven

Early years educator qualifications are widely available through local further education colleges and other training providers. Depending on how your course is funded, you may be required to have GCSEs (A*-C) in English and maths. Ask your training provider whether you need GCSEs to start the course or whether you can do these alongside your training.

Training and development

Experienced nursery nurses could study towards a higher education qualification in early years or child development to open up career options in management or early years teaching. Higher education qualifications include:

• foundation degrees in early years related subjects

• degrees in early childhood studies, early years, child development or related subjects.

If you have a higher education qualification, you may be able to apply for early years Initial Teacher Training (ITT). This leads to the award of Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS). The route taken will depend on your qualifications and experience. Find out more on the Get into teaching website.

You'll find information on careers and courses in childcare from:

• Pre-school Learning Alliance

• Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY)

• National Day Nurseries Association

Check the find apprenticeship gov site for current opportunities in this sector : https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/

You need to make a good impression when you apply for a job as an early years practitioner. Make sure you use an email address that looks professional and check that all of your contact details are up-to-date. Get a friend or family member to check your spelling and grammar. If it’s been a long time since you wrote a CV, you should also look online for templates to help you out.

Remember to include all of the experience you have, even if you don’t think it counts. Helping out on a school trip, or babysitting is relevant experience. Include any voluntary experience you have and remember to sell yourself and make the most of your skills. You may not have as much experience as someone else, but you might be more creative, or better at organisation. Make sure each cover letter explains why you want the job and don’t send out the same letter to every job opening. You can look for jobs on sites including:

• www.indeed.co.uk

• www.jobs.theguardian.com

• www.eteach.com/early-years-jobs

• www.nurseryworldjobs.co.uk

*Ensure you understand the Early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework*

The standards that school and childcare providers must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5. 

The EYFS framework:

• sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well

• ensures children are kept healthy and safe

• ensures that children have the knowledge and skills they need to start school

To read up on this click here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2

https://www.flicklearning.com/blog/the-7-different-areas-of-learning-and-development-in-the-eyfs

https://foundationyears.org.uk/

Four principles of EYFS

The early years foundation stage is based on four important principles that should shape practice in early years settings in Barking and Dagenham.

A unique child

Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self assured.

Positive relationships

Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.

Enabling environments

Children learn well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents/carers.

Learning and development

Children learn and develop in different ways and at different rates. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years settings, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Within this theme are seven areas of learning and these must shape the educational programme in early years settings. All areas are interconnected but there are three areas that are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, for building children’s capacity for learning and to help them form relationships and thrive.

Sample questions :

• What do you enjoy about working with children?

• What qualities will you bring to our nursery?

• Are you capable of working in a team?

• Can you talk to us a little about your experience?

• What aged children have you worked with before? Which ages do you prefer working with?

• What do you find most challenging about working with children?

You will also be asked how you would deal with certain situations, for example?

• How would you handle a child who didn’t want to participate in activities with other children?

• What would you do if two children were in disagreement?

• How would you handle a complaint from a parent?

• How do you determine what the next activities should be to promote learning and development?

• How would you report a safeguarding concern?

Links:

https://www.shinechildcare.co.uk/childcare-interview-questions/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/six-common-early-years-interview-questions-how-answer-matt-hodges/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2