I just want to thank you so much Suzanne for believing in me and helping me so much these last two years. I couldn’t have done my Level 2 without your support.
Thank you! I will be in touch about my level 3.
I would highly recommend Premier Early Years Training. All the team are professional and very supportive. They took on two of our students who were struggling with their CACHE level 3 qualifications and have done a remarkable job supporting them through their qualifications. They are an extremely diverse and inclusive training provider
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole 9 months on the course and felt it fitted really well into my time, the classes were flexible and were arranged around a mutually convenient time for all.
There is no doubt that both Lisa and Suzanne made this a lovely experience and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them in their roles in Early Years Training. I wish them lots of luck in their new venture, and who knows if I decide to do Level 3, I’ll definitely see if they’ll have me!
"I want to thank you both for giving me the opportunity to get a level 3 in children's education. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me. English is the third language for me, but I tried very hard to fulfil all the tasks. During these three years, I have acquired not only knowledge and skills in the field of children's education, but also improved my vocabulary and grammar and my computer skills.
I understand a lot and learned a lot during these three years and I will definitely put into practice all my knowledge and skills.
Thank you so much again for everything"
"Thank you Premier! You have been amazing with the support and encouragement you have provided for me from the online tutorials to the layout of the course materials.
It has been a learning experience for me and I have already been in discussion with my new employer regarding how I would like to proceed with my qualification in my new role.
You never realise how much you do on a daily basis through everyday practice and when you come to put it to paper we work hard as SENCo's, but what a rewarding experience when you know you have helped so many children in their journey"
Suzanne was my tutor when I was studying at a local sixth form college for my Level 1 health & social care award. We all enjoyed Suzanne’s classes because she made learning fun again.
Suzanne was a great tutor because she explained things properly. She made us feel important. She supported us with everything and encouraged us to push further. Suzanne listened to us in depth and really took in what I needed help with. Our class felt like a family.
I wish Suzanne all the very best for her new training business.
I have worked with Lisa over many years first when she was my assessor studying my Level 3. Lisa was fantastically supportive and encouraging; she built up my confidence, inspiring me to train as an assessor myself and she also mentored me during this training. I continued to work as a nursery practitioner, eventually moving onto the role of Deputy Head. While fulfilling this role, I studied my Level 4 with Lisa, bringing Lisa and Suzanne into my setting to train 5 candidates in their Level 2. I am now the Head of the nursery and value the training that I received from both Lisa and Suzanne, and would encourage all my students to study with them. The 5 candidates have developed and become competent members of the team and I am looking forward to continuing to train my future students with Lisa and Suzanne.
I have worked as a course coordinator in Childcare and a tutor of Childcare with Lisa as our IQA for over 3 years. In that time I have found Lisa Tray to be an excellent IQA. She is knowledgeable, attentive , flexible and approachable. If I contact her with a question she gets straight back to me and is patient. She is non-judgemental and always offers suggestions and identifies any required actions. She is well organised and has supported us well during and through to the end of each qualification we have delivered.
She will always go that extra mile.
I am glad the Lisa is going to continue working with us.
For the last nine years, The Duchess of Cambridge has spent time looking into how experiences in early childhood are often the root cause of today’s hardest social challenges such as addiction, family breakdown, poor mental health, suicide and homelessness.
Having met many people who are dealing with a range of issues, she has seen over
and over again how often these problems can be traced back to the earliest years of someone’s life. Early years professionals know that what we experience in the early years, from conception to the age of five, shapes the developing brain, which is why positive physical, emotional and cognitive development during this period is so crucial. It is a time when the building blocks are established, laying foundations that help provide greater resilience to deal with future adversity.
The Duchess wanted to dig deeper into the current early years landscape to understand the issues that we face and learn how we can best tackle them. It was important to listen to the experts, academics, practitioners, service providers and charities within the sector who work every day to make our families and communities stronger. Equally important was hearing from parents themselves and in January 2020, The Duchess launched a landmark survey and travelled around the four nations to meet with parents and listen to their views on raising the next generation.
5 BIG QUESTIONS
Parents, carers and families are at the heart of our work in the early years. In January 2020, The Duchess launched a landmark public survey about the under-fives, in conjunction with IPSOD Mori, sparking the biggest ever conversation on early childhood. More than half a million people took part, which was the largest ever response from the public to research in early years. Open to everyone, it sought society’s views on raising the next generation, so that we can all work together on the key issues affecting our communities and provide help where it is needed most.
The findings should provide a vital source of information for the early years sector, helping it to better understand public perceptions of the importance of the early years, and the first-hand experiences of parents, families and carers./https://royalfoundation.com/programme/early-years/) 98% believe that nurture is essential to lifelong outcomes, just 24% think pregnancy to age 5 is the most pivotal period for health and happiness in adulthood. The Duchess will announce plans to elevate the importance of early childhood and the future focus on early years development.
90% of respondents see mental health & wellbeing as critical to child development, a mere 10% of parents took time to look after themselves when they prepared for the arrival of their baby. Covid- 19 has dramatically increased parental loneliness, with 38% experiencing this before the crisis rising to 68% during the first lockdown. Other findings include 7 out of 10 parents felt how being judged by others can make a bad situation worse, with 48% saying negativity affects their mental health The report concluded on a whole society needs to be more supportive of parents and families in early years, with needed to be done to promote the importance of early years and better support for parents mental health.
Neil Leitch- chief executive of the Early years Alliance, said ”We know that the first five years of a child’s life are absolutely critical for a child’s long-term life chances,and yet all too often, education and learning is seen as something that begins at the school gates,’ he said. ‘At a time when many parents of young children have been cut off from their normal sources of help, and can only seek limited support from family and friends, it is vital that the Government recognises the value of the early years and ensures that the vital services that provide such important support to parents and families across the country are able to continue to do so.’
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said, 'This report is crucial in showcasing the importance of early years for children’s development, their lifelong learning and therefore their life chances. 'The results from the survey are clear that parents do not always recognise the very real impact that early education, both within the family and through formal childcare settings, has on their children’s development.
'Nurseries and their staff are excellent at providing great learning opportunities for children, but also supporting families. Early years practitioners are key to developing a child’s foundations for lifelong learning, as well as supporting parents to continue learning opportunities at home.
'These Five Big Insights and the rest of this research must be considered in any policy decisions affecting families and the early years sector - which has been doing fantastic work for children throughout the pandemic.'
The 5 big questions asked are:
What do you believe is most important for children growing up in the UK today to live a happy adult life?
A) Good physical and mental health
B) Good friendships and relationships
C) Access to opportunities
D) Access to a good education
Which of these statements is closest to your opinion?
A) It is primarily the responsibility of parents to give children aged 0-5 the best chance of health and happiness
B) It is primarily the responsibility of others in society to give children aged 0-5 the best chance of health and happiness
C) It is the shared responsibility of parents and others in society to give children aged 0-5 the best chance of health and happiness
D) Don’t know
How much do you agree or disagree with this statement? The mental health and wellbeing of parents and carers has a great impact on the development of their child(ren).
A) Strongly agree
B) Tend to agree
C) Neither agree nor disagree
D) Tend to disagree
E) Strongly disagree
Which of the following is closest to your opinion of what influences how children develop from the start of pregnancy to age 5?
A) Mostly the traits a child is born with (i.e. nature)
B) Mostly the experiences of a child in the early years (i.e. nurture)
C) Both nature and nurture equally
D) Don’t know
Which period of a child and young person’s life do you think is the most important for health and happiness in adulthood?
• Start of pregnancy to 5 years
• 5-11 years (primary school)
• 11-16 years (secondary school)
• 16-18 years (further education)
• 18-24 years (young adulthood)
• All equally important
• Don’t know
Anxiety is tough, it is annoying, it’s scary and it brings you down and beats you up just when you don’t need it.
As a 16-year-old boy, I’ve dealt with anxiety a lot, sometimes being aware of it and sometimes being unaware, whether it’s at school, social events, meeting new people or (possibly the worst of the lot) watching and supporting Tottenham. I have learnt that, if you have anxiety, this is NOT the football team you want to support.
Anxiety can come for me in many different forms. Whether it is a full-blown panic attack or a tiny worry in the back of my head, it’s always there. Even writing this, I’m feeling it!
There are lots of ways to deal with anxiety. People suggest slow breathing, facing your fears and walking straight into it or, in my case, completely running away from it and not being able to go to school for four years! Something which I do not advise.
Missing school
I was 11 years old and moving to a completely new school. For most people, this would be a major cause of anxiety but I was surprisingly positive (for once). I had all my closest friends moving with me, I was excited to meet new people and I was ready to get out of the absolute nightmare I thought primary school was! Little did I know it was about to get a whole lot worse.
I was a goofy, loud, sarcastic and abnormally tall 11-year-old – all traits I still have now – however I added one more quality, dad jokes. Yes, I know, I hate them too. My dad, however, is extremely proud that he has ruined my humour forever!
So, I had just started secondary school and everything was going well, or so I thought (cue dramatic sound effect), when around five months into year 7, I woke up one morning and everything fell apart. I could not get into the car, I could not breathe, I felt like my heart was beating out of my chest.
Everything anyone had ever told me about how to handle myself in these situations had gone flying out the window and even the thought of seeing anyone outside of my house made me burst into tears and feel overwhelmed with panic. I did not know how to control myself. I didn’t know what was happening. When was it going to end?
For the next two years, I didn’t attend school once. I tried many times. I got to the school and I couldn’t step inside. The same thing would happen again each time – that fear, that panic. It was as if there was a brick wall in front of me every time I tried. In the third year, I gradually went back to school for very short amounts of time, starting with 10 minutes a day sitting in a room alone and building up to one hour a day with one friend.
For three years of my school life, whether I was there or not, I did no work, I sat at home for the majority of the day, playing PlayStation, watching Netflix and football. Sounds great, right? Well, for some weird reason, it wasn’t. It was almost as if sitting at home all day doing nothing would fail to motivate me and stimulate my brain. Who would’ve thought?
One more thing that made it even worse was that, during years 7 and 8, everyone was having bar and bat mitzvahs. For those who don’t know, this is a Jewish celebration for 12 and 13-year-old boys and girls. It involves a ceremony and a huge party, which is the only bit most kids care about. So, whilst everyone was going out every weekend having the time of their lives partying, I was at home, on my own, watching them on social media. Even now, I still struggle to go to bar/bat mitzvahs and parties.
Getting help
Changing things around was a long slow process. I saw around eight different counsellors/psychologists, none of whom really helped me, and many of whom I am sure were exasperated by me. I couldn’t communicate and felt misunderstood, which usually made me feel quite angry, if anything. At that point, medication proved more helpful than counselling and I’m still on a low dose now.
There was no ‘turning point’ for me, it was gradual. There were many meltdowns and mostly they would be with my mum, who was my ‘go to’. She understood me and spoke to me on a level that did not make me feel judged and she knew me better than anyone. She never gave up and pushed me only to a point that she knew I could handle.
She had a plan for me. Initially it was just about getting dressed every single day into my school uniform, getting into the car, and driving to school. I didn’t need to step out of the car or go INTO school, I just needed to get there and back in my uniform. Sometimes even just getting into the car would take two hours. But we did it every single day.
Once I was able to easily to do that (after many months), I had to get into the school and step inside the building and then come straight out and home again. It was so hard. But I knew that I would not be pushed to do any more than mum had promised. I felt safe and never tricked into doing anything. It was all about trust. I just had to step into the building and step out again.
We pushed on and stuck to what we had planned to do that month. When that became easier, I had to stay in the building for five minutes. Months later, 10 minutes. Then eventually into a side room. Once I had mastered that, I felt confident enough to have a friend with me in the room (avoiding seeing anyone was a big issue for me). So mum would be in constant contact with the school telling them what the next stage was and, each time I mastered it, we would discuss between us what we thought I could manage for the next stage.
Beginning a new ‘step’ was always very difficult but we persevered – sometimes for months, day in day out, until it became comfortable. The first time I stepped into an actual classroom after a couple of years (for five minutes) was a massive achievement and, after a month of doing that every day, it was me that asked for an increase to 15 minutes.
So you can imagine how slow the progress was but eventually I was able to manage a whole lesson! Imagine that! And so lessons and timetables were planned weekly by mum and sent to the school and I had to try to stick to the plan that we had made together. Two lessons a day, eventually half a day etc.
Sometimes it would get too much and I’d feel awful and a failure but then mum would not make it an issue and start afresh with me the following day. And I always had support teachers with me. So we built it up over a long period of time, extending the goal. And, when that was reached, extending it again.
Family and friends
I consider myself very lucky. I had an extremely supportive family who wouldn’t scream or get annoyed at me whenever I panicked. I also had the best friends anyone could ask for, always looking out for me and supporting me even if they didn’t know why I wasn’t at school. Everyone cared.
With parties and social events (well, there weren’t very many as these were and still can be difficult), I really wanted to go and would beat myself up beforehand for many days! But mum would say “Go, stay for half an hour only and, if you want to stay longer, then text me.”
Mum would often get many texts from me. Some social events I would stay at, some I would come home from, and some I never made it to at all. But mum always convinced to me try – with an ‘out’ if I needed it. Somehow, throughout this whole process and the thousands of texts and meltdowns, she stuck with me and, most impressively of all, maintained her sanity and patience with me. Well, at least I think so!
I still remember one day, which really sums up how amazing my friends and family are. In year 7, when I first started missing school, the thought of telling everyone I had anxiety gave me even more anxiety, so I opted for the easy way out. I told my friends I was off because I had glandular fever. How my friends believed that I, a weird, awkward, taller-than-everyone-else 11-year-old, contracted what is predominantly known as “the kissing disease” is beyond me, but they did.
I mention this because, in year 9, when I was 13 years old, I was seeing my friends a lot and slightly happier than I previously had been, so I decided I was sick of hiding, sick of lying to people and just wanted to tell the truth. I wrote a long and detailed message explaining to my friends what was really “wrong with me”. This was a huge step forward for me. My friends were incredibly understanding, offered their full support to me and didn’t judge me at all. They didn’t take it too seriously and treated me the same as they always did and, of course, constantly made jokes about it (which I wanted and loved).
More in control
That brings us to now, five years on. I am at school full time – well, as much as Boris is allowing me! I have grown as a person and really understand how to control my anxiety and deal with it. Of course, it’s not been easy. I’ve had some very tough times and have had to fight through them with the help of my family, friends and professionals.
I was able to catch up on all my work, which I found extremely stressful and daunting. I can be in lessons, be with friends and have had amazing support from the entire school to help me find my way back into being a full-time student. Luckily for me, COVID hitting allowed me to escape the nightmare of GCSEs, which was something of a blessing.
Of course, my anxiety hasn’t completely gone. I still have several moments and panic attacks but I have managed to control it and deal with it when the time is right, which comes naturally with experience. When it comes to panic attacks, this is not something you want but, oh well, I have them now.
I know anxiety can be different for everyone and everyone can have it in different ways, it’s just that mine is more serious and should be considered worse than everyone else’s (that’s one of those dad jokes I mentioned earlier).
In all seriousness, if you are reading this and you’ve dealt with or you’re dealing with anxiety or another mental health concern, here is my advice for you: Although it is different for everyone and your experience may not be the same as or even like mine, it WILL get better. I didn’t believe it when people told me either but I promise it will. Make sure you talk to people, accept support and do the things that help YOU!
Finally, and most importantly... if you have anxiety, DO NOT SUPPORT TOTTENHAM, it will only make it worse.
All too often we see comments on social media from people very confused about which course and which training provider they should go with. It’s far too common that we hear about training providers offering very low prices for ‘full’ qualifications, often with hidden charges or penalties. The ‘full’ qualifications often being CPD courses and will not be recognised by employers or OFSTED
Courses are often advertised as fully online, when in fact any full Level 2 or 3 qualification, observation of a learner in their workplace/placement is a requirement of Ofqual and the awarding bodies. How can a learner choose the right training provider with so many to choose from?
Word of mouth is an excellent way, ask friends, local nurseries where they have used or would recommend. Local colleges - but these would normally require a commitment to attend once a week for a day/eve.
Online training providers but only ones that are registered with an awarding body.
We think the first place to look for a training provider/college is to look at the awarding body website and do a centre search locally to you. All good training providers are inspected annually by the awarding body and have to adhere to a rigorous quality assurance.
A training provider/college that offers funded courses either through apprenticeships/ student loans are also inspected by OFSTED. Courses can be self funded or can be funded by learner loans or through an apprenticeship route, all are very different and with the funded and apprenticeships options there may be extra requirements or work to be taken into account.'
How do I choose the right qualification or level ?
The first thing we ask any applicant to think about is where they would like to work and with what age group. If you can only see yourself working in a school as a TA then the Support Teaching & Learning in Schools is the best option. However if you are not sure if you would like to work in an Early Years setting or school then the Early Years Educator is the option for you, it will give you the best option to work in all settings. A lot of schools don't actually require a qualification for a TA but some education authorities require at least a Level 2.
Support Teaching & Learning Qualifications are offered as an Award, Certificate and Diploma.
The Award is only a short course intended as an introduction to the information and knowledge needed to work in primary, secondary or special schools. It covers the many varied roles that full and part-time support staff may fulfil including administrative roles, site support roles, technical roles and volunteers. This is knowledge only and does not give you a qualification to work directly with the children as a TA. The Certificate will enable learners to develop the knowledge and skills needed when supporting teaching and learning in primary, secondary or special schools. It covers a wide range of areas including children and young people’s development, supporting those with disabilities or special educational needs and communication and professional relationships. It is suitable to anyone working directly with the children The Diploma This qualification provides learners with an in-depth understanding of the knowledge and skills needed when working directly with children and young people in school and college environments. It covers all aspects of specialist support including planning, delivering and reviewing assessment strategies to support learning alongside the teacher; bilingual support; special needs support; and personal development and reflective practice.
All three qualifications have units in common and they can be transferred at any time to the other qualifications in the suite. The Diploma can only be completed if you support children who need additional support or you are in a specialist school. Some units may be hard to achieve if you are working in a mainstream school. The Award and Certificate are offered at both Level 2 and 3, deciding which is the correct level is often decided at interview and through initial assessment.
A general rule is that if you are employed in a school or have been volunteering for a long time then a level 3 would be more suited. Early Years Educator offered at both Level 2 and 3.
Level 2 The aim of this qualification is to provide learners with the knowledge and understanding of babies and young children from Birth to 7 years of age with applied knowledge in the early years, 0-5 years. The qualification content meets the Department for Education’s (DfE) Level 2 full and relevant criteria for a Level 2 Early Years Practitioner in the workforce. This qualification is ideal for learners looking to work with children between Birth and 5 years, and gain knowledge of working with children up to 7 years. Learners do not need to have previous experience or qualifications in working with children to undertake this qualification but will need to be volunteering in a setting to achieve the qualification.
Level 3 The Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Workforce (Early Years Educator) prepares learners to become Early Years Educators, enabling them aged 5 to 7 years. Upon achievement of this qualification it is intended that learners will be able to enter the workforce as Early Years Educators. .From 3 April 2017, the requirement for Level 3 Early Years Educators (EYE) to hold GCSE English and maths A*-C, will be broadened to Level 2 qualifications, including Functional Skills. You do not need to have a Level 2 but it is advisable if you do not have any previous experience working with young children.
Everyone loves a bargain or a good deal! But as with everything in life, is cheap good when it comes to buying a qualification?
On social media we are seeing more and more learners asking if this is the right course in order for them to work with children or progress in their career. We are seeing almost on a daily basis learners asking for help with a question that their assessor should be supporting them with.
The trouble with discounted courses is that the assessors working for a training provider may be training to become an assessor ‘on the job’ or an assessor with an unrealistic caseload of learners. Often without good quality teaching resources, with so little time allocated to each learner. Learners are given far too little support and asked to complete whole units by themselves or told to buy a course textbook.
A good quality training provider will support their assessors, hold regular standardisation meetings to ensure that everyone delivering the qualifications are delivering to a high standard. All training providers are accredited to an awarding body who will moderate the centres policies, procedures & all staff. Awarding bodies can withdraw a centre from delivering their qualifications.
So what questions should you be asking?
The first and most important is whether the qualification is a full qualification and which awarding body is the training provider accredited to.
This can be checked by looking at the awarding body website, it’s worth finding out if they do work with that training provider. All training providers must register their learners with the awarding body; this is usually within a short timescale - maximum of 6 weeks. If the training provider hasn't done this they can be issued with sanctions by the awarding body. It is the learners insurance if anything goes wrong with the training company.
Find out if the course is funded. Is it an apprenticeship?
Some courses that are apprenticeships will have extra specifications such as functional skills added. If you were to do this course through a loan you may not have to do functional skills. Some courses are self funded; however you need to find out if there are any payment plans available.
What are the costs of the course?
Are their penalties for re-submitting coursework?
What happens if you take longer to complete the course?
Do you have to pay for a certificate when you complete?
Do you have to pay to be observed in a setting?
So you see that there are lots of hidden costs for your bargain!
What should be included in the cost of the course?
Registration with the awarding body, this usually lasts for 2-3 years; there should be no penalty if you go over a timescale. (Unless the funding specifies a certain time scale) When a learner is registered with an awarding body, it also includes certification; the training provider is not charged extra for this! You should be assessed by a qualified assessor; if you are being taught by a trainee assessor, all their work should be countersigned by a qualified assessor.
All teaching, assessment, marking and direct observation (if relevant) should be included.
The assessor is there to support you, if you need to expand your answers or add to an assignment, so be it! It is the assessors job to support you to extend your knowledge and to encourage you to complete the course. It doesn't matter if you meet the criteria the first time or the tenth time, it's their job!
You should have access to good high quality up to date teaching resources. My very last piece of advice is DO NOT just click and buy a course online, any good training provider, will interview potential learners to ensure they are on the correct course and the correct level.
Between Suzanne and Lisa they have over 20 years experience delivering & teaching Cache courses. They have worked with a variety of colleges and training providers and have built up a big network of fellow assessors, tutors, internal moderators and external moderators.We wrote this as we get so upset and frustrated when we see that people have been sold the wrong course or are being penalised during their course. There are so many excellent assessors, tutors, internal moderators and of course training providers and we just want to be aware of all the facts before you click!
This weekend on social media, I have seen so many comments and posts from people looking for courses or who have already signed up for courses that have been mis-sold. One poor learner had been given the wrong information by one of the country's biggest recruitment agency! Others have not been given support by their assessors & again not being observed by their assessors in their setting.
I have seen comments from people saying this is what happens when you pay for the course but I can 100% say this is not the case for all privately funded trainingproviders, in fact, I would say this happens more and more with "free courses/apprentices" providers. The assessors working for these companies have such a huge caseload of learners that they can't possibly support the learners through their qualifications and give them the support that they should expect.
Learners see that they can access free courses or learner loans but they don't realise that there are other options. Please do your research, speak to colleaguesthat have already completed courses, look at local colleges and private training providers. Do a centre search on an awarding body website, such as Cache.
If you are not happy with your assessor/training provider, in the first instance speak to the provider, and if you are still not happy with their response/support contact the awarding body, they can put in place sanctions or withdraw the accreditation.
There seems to be a lot of confusion over the ‘right qualification’ to work in a school environment and to be honest, it can be a bit of a minefield!
In the first instance, if you want to work in a school then the best route is to start to volunteer in a school, each school is very different and each key stage is as well. You should then speak to your headteacher/ local education authority as each area has different criteria to become a TA, some schools don't ask for any qualifications whereas others do as well as a certain level of English/maths qualifications.
A lot of schools have funding for staff to access apprenticeship qualifications. If this is the case then there is only a level 3 qualification available to access the funding. Government reforms to the apprenticeship system have led to the development of the Level 3 Teaching Assistant Apprenticeship Standard. We, therefore, offer the Level 3 Diploma in Supporting Teaching and Learning qualification which fully maps to the knowledge, skills, and behaviour requirements the Standard demands. (Cache website 3/2021) If however you are not going down the apprenticeship route then you have a lot more qualifications to choose from, some providers will be able to offer the adult loan or you may choose to privately fund the course.
You may think why should I pay for the course when I can get a ‘free one’? Depending on the finance offered to you, you may have to undertake English/maths/functional skills alongside your main qualification, with the apprenticeship route you have to complete the standards as well as the diploma.
Another consideration is the timescale, some finance/loans will have a specific length of time that you have to stay on the course, so if you want to complete earlier you can’t. This is the same if you choose to go to a local college, you will have to attend classes, weekly for a certain timescale. Ifyou choose to self-fund then you can complete the course at your own pace. There are two levels of qualifications to choose from, either level 2 or 3, depending on your
experience in schools, level of education, English and maths qualifications would determine which is the best level for you. A good training provider will help and support you to be on the right level to help you achieve your end goal, there really is no point in being on a course that you will struggle with. Learning is a journey and should be enjoyable! Both levels of qualifications now cover a much bigger age range to enable learners to work in a school or college.
AT LEVEL 2:
Award in Support Teaching and Learning
This qualification is an introduction to the knowledge and understanding needed to work in a school or college environment. It can apply to the many varied roles that full and part-time support staff may fulfill including administrative roles, site support roles, technical roles, and volunteers, as well as roles that work directly with children and young people in the learning environment. This is a knowledge-only qualification and you do not need to be working in a school to complete it, you can progress to the level 2 certificate when completed.
Certificate in Support Teaching and Learning
The Level 2 Certificate in Supporting Teaching and Learning has been designed to provide learners with an understanding of the knowledge and skills needed when working directly with children and young people in school or college environments. It covers a wide range of areas including children and young people’s development, supporting children and young people’s positive behaviour, and communication and professional relationships. It’s aimed at learners working in roles that support pupils’ learning in primary, secondary, or special schools, as well as colleges. To complete this course you MUST be working/volunteering in a classroom in a school.
AT LEVEL 3:
Award in Supporting Teaching and Learning
This qualification provides learners with an understanding of the knowledge needed when working directly with children and young people in a school or college environment. It will enable learners to gain an understanding of elements including children and young people’s development and safeguarding their welfare. However, it will not qualify you to work as a teaching assistant and will provide underpinning knowledge only. This qualification is suitable for learners who are not yetworking in a Level 3 school or college role but are able to achieve at this level. It is also suitable for initial training.
Certificate in Supporting Teaching & Learning
This qualification provides learners with an understanding of the knowledge needed when working directly with children and young people in a school or college environment. It will enable learners to gain an understanding of elements including children and young people’s development, safeguarding their welfare, and communication and professional relationships. To complete this qualification you must be working or volunteering directly with children in a classroom environment for a minimum of 100 hrs.
Diploma in Supporting Teaching and Learning
This qualification provides learners with an in-depth understanding of the knowledge and skills needed when working directly with children and young people in school and college environments. It covers all aspects of specialist support including planning, delivering, and reviewing assessment strategies to support learning alongside the teacher; bilingual support; special needs support; and personal development and reflective practice. This qualification is aimed at learners working in roles that offer specialist support for pupils’ learning in primary, secondary or special schools, as well as colleges. As learners need to show competence in both skills and knowledge, they will need to be working or be on a practical placement during the taught programme of study in a learning environment (school or college). At diploma level, we recommend that the learner undertakes 200 hours of placement in a real work environment. The level 3 qualifications are part of a nested suite of qualifications. Qualifications within a nested suite allow learners to top up to a qualification that is the same level and subject within the Award, Certificate, Diploma structure. To clarify if you are working with children in a mainstream school/college and not supporting children who need specialist support then you should complete the certificate, the diploma has additional units that relate to children who need specialist support and it may be hard to achieve the diploma if not. You can always top up your qualification at a later date.
AT LEVEL 4:
This Level 4 qualification aims to provide professional development opportunities for practitioners working in the school and college workforce. This qualification will embrace the wealth of experience, proven knowledge, and skills of the learner in a teaching and learning environment. It will challenge the learner in both daily practice and theoretical understanding. Learners will acquire and use skills of leadership, mentoring, coaching, and reflection as they
complete the qualification through work-based learning opportunities. Upon achievement of this qualification, the learner will be equipped as an Advanced Practitioner.
The Advanced Practitioner will use crucial leadership skills to mentor others across all roles and responsibilities in the school or college workforce. This is not an HLTA qualification, HLTA is a status, and TA’s who wish to become HLTA should speak to their headteacher/line manager to discuss how to demonstrate the 33 standards needed.
The qualification is aimed at learners who are employed in suitable roles within schools or colleges. Previous Level 3 study is a clear advantage but wealth of experience, knowledge, and understanding working in schools or colleges is a requirement for this CPD qualification.
One last thing, choose your training provider/college carefully, ask around, get recommendations. Look at the awarding body’s website, do a centre search, ensure that the providers are registered to deliver the qualification. Look at OFSTED, if the college, training, or apprenticeship provider offer loans/ funding they will have to be inspected by OFSTED, although centres not offering the funding route do not need to be inspected, although they are quality assured by the awarding body. When speaking to the providers, find out exactly what you are paying for, you should have access to your assessor on a regular basis, be supported by them either by email/face to face, telephone calls. You should not pay extra to be observed in your setting if it is a requirement of the qualification nor should you be observed by someone in your school! You should also not have to pay for the awarding body certificate! If you are unhappy with the training/apprentice provider or college, speak to the awarding body.
The very last thing - Enjoy your course!
We are seeing so many requests for support from learners on social media to help them complete their assignments, where to find evidence and people struggling as assignments have been returned with minimal feedback. We thought we would explain the role of the assessor in vocational qualifications. We have both been so lucky that any qualifications we have undertaken or when we both started out as assessors we were supported by an amazing team of assessors and tutors, who really encouraged our learning and professional development. We hope that we pass this on to our assessors and learners.
The main role of the assessor is to help and support the learner to complete their qualification.
Assessors should be qualified and are trained to assess work through a variety of sources. All assessors are working within a set criteria for each level of the qualification; standardised by their training provider, whether it is a school, college, apprenticeship provider or training company. The awarding body will hold annual visits to all their centres by an EQA - External Quality Adviser to make sure that they are all following the strict guidelines that are set out to all centres. Assessors should be attending standardisation meetings throughout the year to ensure that all learners are being assessed the same way and that all assessors have the same expectations.
Each centre will have a lead IQA - Internal Quality Assurer whose main role is to ensure that all assessors are fulfilling their job role. The IQA will sample the learners' work throughout their course, not to check the learners' work, but to ensure that the assessor is fulfilling their role correctly and to the standards set out by the awarding body. It is the same for the EQA who will be checking the IQA and the centres roles and work. Assessors should complete annual CPD to ensure their own knowledge is up to date as possible. They should also be informed about the most up to date adaptations of each course that they assess on.
An assessors main role is to support each of their learners individually to meet the criteria of the qualification that they are on. Some learners need more support than others, this could depend on their job role, experience, where they are working/volunteering, experience of previous education or an additional learning need.
For each level of qualification assessors should be marking work at a certain level; assessors' expectation of learners knowledge will vary hugely from a level 2 to 5. At level 2 assessors should be teaching for most of the qualification, at level 3 assessors would expect a lot more reflection and knowledge already gained from doing the job role, at level 4 and 5 the learner would be expected to do a lot more self studying, analysing and research. A learner should expect support throughout their learning journey irrelevant to the level of their qualification.
Work should not just be sent/ given back without guidance as to how to expand to meet the criteria. Assessors should be able to support and guide learners as to where they should be looking to find the correct evidence.
So what should you do if you feel you are not getting the support you need? In the first place you should speak to your assessor, they may be unaware that you want more support or feel you are not getting enough. If possible try to have the conversation via email or a record of the conversation in writing. The assessor should record this in a work plan/feedback sheet. If you still feel after that conversation that you are not getting the support you need, speak to the IQA, you should be aware of who this is from your induction, again try to have a written record.
If after this if you feel that you are not being supported then speak to the awarding body, who will look into this and if necessary issue sanctions against the training provider. You should be enjoying your learning journey and not struggle. That is why it is so important that you are sign posted to the correct level of qualification from the start and you are supported throughout.
THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS YOU NEED TO ASK WHEN CHOOSING A TRAINING PROVIDER
You have trawled the internet and social media and you are now completely confused as to which training provider or qualification you should be looking for. We hope our previous series of blogs has helped you. We have thought about the questions you should ask when speaking to a potential training provider.
IS THE TRAINING PROVIDER AND COURSE ACCREDITED TO AN AWARDING BODY?
The training provider will have a centre number and should appear on a centre search in the awarding bodies website. The provider should also be registered with Companies House and National Register of Training Providers. Not all training providers need to be registered with OFSTED, only the ones offering funding and apprenticeships or part of a college or school will be inspected by OFSTED. All centres will have annual audits from their awarding body, you should be able to see the report if you want to. All qualifications that the centre delivers will be looked at and sampled to ensure that they are delivering the qualifications correctly.
IS THE COURSE A FULL QUALIFICATION?
Very simply if there is no observation in your workplace/volunteer setting then NO it's not a full qualification at level 2 & 3. You have to be observed, no arguments! In line with the requirements of the awarding body, it must be by an assessor and not by anyone in the setting, if the training centre tells you this, please run away! The only time that this can happen has been in lockdown, when settings were not allowing visitors in and learners were near the completion date of their qualification. Going forward this will hopefully not happen again! The awarding bodies do not like expert witness testimonies as a rule for evidence. If there's no observation then it is a CPD course or knowledge only. CPD is Continued Professional Development and only suitable to develop or expand on your existing knowledge. (There are some great CPD courses around)
HOW WILL MY COURSE BE TAUGHT?
There are various options and there is no wrong way, it really is your personal preference and learning style. But please ask the question! It can be weekly classes at a college, either day or evening over an academic year. Or one-to-one workshops either face to face or over google meets/ facetime or the third option is all online, where you are sent assignments which you complete in your own time. I personally think the best option is a mixture of face-to-face workshops and access to good quality resources, supported by a qualified assessor/tutor. You need to find out if there are any restrictions on the number of submissions of assignments. We have heard that after 3 submissions of an assignment you are then charged for any further re-submissions. This is poor practice, the assessor's main role is to support you through your qualifications. If a learner is returning to education after a long time, it can take them a while to get back into the swing of things and to know exactly what evidence meets the criteria. I would also ask how long the assessor will take to return assignments, it can be frustrating if you would like to complete more work but the assessor is taking 3 weeks to send it back to you and you are waiting for feedback or can’t progress. Another scare story; a learner was sending in her work and not being set any new work, whilst the assessor took a long time to mark the work and asked for a resubmission, she wasn't allowed to start new work until the other work had been agreed as competent, she was then charged extra as she was going over her deadlines, again very poor practice!
HOW DO I FUND MY COURSE?
There are numerous funding options and each funding option will have certain criteria attached to it; this could be age restrictions, timescale to complete the course, (not only to complete before a deadline but also not being allowed to complete before a certain deadline) previous level of qualifications, apprenticeship funding or self-funding. If you are self-funding, find out about payment plans, ask are they interest-free, etc
DO I NEED MATHS AND ENGLISH GCSE OR EQUIVALENT?
From 3 April 2017, the requirement for Level 3 Early Years Educators (EYE) to hold GCSE English and Maths A*-C, has been broadened to Level 2 qualifications, including Functional Skills. This will enable staff with an EYE qualification and Level 2 English and Mathematics qualifications to count in the Level 3 staff: child ratios in childcare settings. This includes those who already hold an EYE qualification, who began studying an EYE from September 2014, or will achieve an EYE in the future. (Please refer to the Early Years Workforce Strategy (March 2017) for further details.) Some learners find it hard or have lost their original GCSE/ O level certificates. If you don't know the awarding body and your old school is still open, it's worth contacting them to see if they have a record of the awarding body, you can then ask for a fee to have a replacement certificate. If for some reason that is not an option then go to the AQA
website, where you can obtain copies of the transcript but not the certificate.
https://www.aqa.org.uk/contact-us/certificate-services/past-results-and-lost-certificates
For learners who completed their education in other countries, it is worth converting them to the UK equivalent via Ecctis - formerly NARIC https://enic.org.uk/Qualifications/SOC/Default.aspx
For all other qualifications at levels 2 & 3 such as Support Teaching & Learning, there are no set requirements apart from learners needing to be 16 years, but each training provider will set their own requirements. For level 4 and 5 qualifications, there will normally be a requirement that learners hold a level 3 vocational qualification
Judging by a lot of bewilderment on social media a few weeks ago, when someone asked where to complete a PANCo qualification, it quickly became obvious that people in the industry had not heard of it apart from an alternative to coat chicken in! With the implementation of the revised EYFS the PANCo role will be a great addition to any early years setting.
Background
In 2009, the Cambridge Childhood Partnership was created by three health and education professionals, who wanted to develop a health and wellbeing qualification in Early Years. They developed the idea of a physical & nutritional coordinator (PANCo) to be employed in every setting. In 2010 they launched a Cache-endorsed programme to 60 eager early years professionals and it was launched nationwide in 2014 as part of the Cache level 4 Advanced Practitioner course, as well as now a stand-alone unit.
PANCo Role
The PANCo champions best practice in physical activity and nutrition and acts as the agent for change. They lead positive change to ensure an environment and ethos that supports the prevention of obesity and health and wellbeing of children, families, and staff. Staff completing the PANCo qualification need to be able to reflect, analyse and implement change within their setting. They need to be able to lead other staff members to promote a healthy lifestyle within the setting and support families to make positive changes. There has been so much research that leads to the conclusion that if children are encouraged to make healthy choices from an early age this can influence positive choices in adulthood.
Research task
Within the 5 units of the Level 4 Advanced Practitioner, there is a small research task. We encourage our learners to relate their research task to the PANCo unit. We have seen some amazing changes in settings’ practices from these tasks. From implementing forest schools, control of portion sizes, ‘walk a mile a day’ to healthy choices in lunch boxes and oral hygiene. Feedback from early years managers and owners have told us, it’s not only excellent CPD for staff but the impact on other staff members and parents has been huge.
New EYFS Update
With the emphasis in the update on promoting good oral hygiene, now is a really good time to analyse practice and procedures with a setting. Good oral hygiene doesn't just mean adding in teeth brushing after a meal but settings can look at the food choices they offer; to eliminate high sugar contents, encourage parents to use sugar free medicines, to visit the dentist regularly, and have healthy lifestyle topics, books, resources, and visits. Hygienists and dentists make great visits to settings!
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