Run at UCS as part of the Early Years East Consortium (EYE) led by the Eastern Leadership Centre (ELC) and alongside UEA, University of Hertford and Pen Green.
The information contained within this programme specification is correct as at November 2011.
For guidance please contact the EYPS team on 01473 338494 or email eypsadminucs.ac.uk|.
Level of Award
The FHEQ levels are as follows:
Level 4 – CertHE
Level 5 - DipHE, FdA/FdSc and CertEd
Level 6 - BA/BA (Hons) and PGCE
Level 7 - PgC/PgD/MA/MSc/Professional Status
Course Summary
In order to attain the Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) you will be required to prove your ability to meet a set of professional standards. Meeting these standards will indicate to employers your creative expertise, your professional competence as well as your teamwork and leadership skills.
Depending on your previous experience, you will be eligible for either:
-
The Graduate Practitioner Pathway (GPP) – 6 months (part time)
-
The Undergraduate Practitioner Pathway (UPP) – 12 months (part time)
-
The Graduate Entry Pathway (GEP) – 12 months (full time)
-
The Undergraduate Entry Pathway (UEP) – 12 months (full time)
Funding
Candidates meeting the relevant eligibility, entry and quality requirements may qualify for funded places (subject to CRB and interview). Funded places will be allocated on the basis of areas of disadvantage and under-represented groups.
Any candidate wishing to embark on a CWDC funded Practitioner Pathway must be working in an eligible setting.
Eligible settings are:
-
A setting on the Early Years Register
-
A nursery school
-
An independent school that delivers the Early Years Foundation Stage
-
Maintained setting that delivers the Early Years Foundation Stage i.e. a nursery school or maintained school with a reception class
From January 2012, self funding candidates will be able to undertake EYPS Pathways. A self funding candidate is an individual whose EYPS Pathway is not paid for by CWDC and is funded from an alternative source (e.g. their employer, a sponsor or the candidate themselves).
There are no setting eligibility criteria for self funded candidates but entry and quality requirements must be met.
Entry Requirements
Training to become an Early Years Professional (EYP) is open to candidates with different backgrounds and qualifications.
In order to undertake EYPS you must:
-
Have a UK degree qualification or equivalent at the start of the pathway or before the final assessment (depending on the pathway)
-
Have GCSE English at grade C or above or equivalent before the pathway starts
-
Have GCSE Mathematics at grade C or above or equivalent before the pathway starts
-
Work in an eligible setting for practitioner pathways (includes maintained settings)
-
Not have a criminal background that might prevent you from working with children or as an EYP and you must not have been excluded from working with children
-
Undertake an interview
-
Demonstrate that you can read effectively and are able to communicate clearly and accurately in spoken and written English
Course Aims
Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) ensures that those working with children under the age of five benefit from the highest level of training. The skills and experience graduates acquire will not only give children brighter futures, but also enable EYPs to lead and inspire others to give all children the start in life they deserve.
Learning Outcomes
These course aims are broken down into sets of related skills, which are known as learning outcomes.
In order to attain EYPS you will be required to prove your ability to meet a set of professional standards. Meeting these standards will indicate to employers your creative expertise, your professional competence as well as your teamwork and leadership skills.
The Standards indicate what you must know, understand and be able to do in order to achieve EYPS. They cover working safely with babies, toddlers and young children, from birth to the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (five year olds).
There are 39 standards organised into six areas:
-
Knowledge and understanding
-
Effective practice
-
Relationships with children
-
Communicating and working in partnership with families and carers
-
Teamwork and collaboration
-
Professional development
To meet these standards you must be a highly competent and creative professional who is passionate and enthusiastic about the early years.
Teaching, Learning and Assessment
Teaching and learning is personalised depending on knowledge and experience.
Regardless of which pathway you choose, all candidates will go through the same assessment process:
-
The formative assessment in the form of a ‘development and progress review’
-
The summative assessment to demonstrate that the candidate has met the 39 EYPS standards across the 0-5 age range, showing leadership and effective personal practice.
This includes:
-
Written tasks designed to assess the candidate’s knowledge and understanding of the standards.
-
A portfolio of evidence produced by the candidate to support the written tasks
-
A single setting visit during a working day, to include observation and an interview with the candidate.
Benchmarks / Professional Standards / Competency Frameworks
At the moment no QAA Standards apply.
Course Delivery
The programme is delivered at University Campus Suffolk.
Placements / Work Based Learning / Work Experience
Candidates on the Practitioner Pathways will receive additional training and placements to meet the EYPS standards. Where candidates need experience in one or more areas (for example with babies) a relevant placement is undertaken that provides sufficient opportunity to achieve competence in the area before assessment for EYPS (and their pathway) is complete.
Each candidate on the Entry Pathways must undertake a minimum of two work-based training placements in different settings before assessment for EYPS accreditation is complete. Two of these placements must last a minimum of four weeks each. Each candidate must undertake a total of at least 18 weeks work-based training placement as part of this pathway before assessment for EYPS accreditation is complete. In total, training, placements and assessment will take at least 36 weeks.
Tutorial and Study Support
Candidates are allocated both a tutor and a mentor (who has experience of delivering and leading practice in the Early Years Foundation Stage) and will be able to access support from each.
Opportunities on Completion of the Course
Early Years Professionals (EYPs) work in a wide range of roles in group settings such as nurseries and children's centres and as home-based child carers. They lead practice, support other practitioners and are central to helping children develop from birth until the age of five, a crucial time in a child's life.
The positive impact of EYPS has been demonstrated recently by a national evaluation of EYPS. The research found that nurseries that employed EYPs made significant improvements in quality compared with settings that did not. Findings of the study also suggest that practitioners felt that gaining EYPS:
-
Improved their sense of professional status
-
Increased their confidence as a practitioner
-
Gave them greater credibility with their colleagues
-
Improved their ability to effect change in their settings
-
Involved them in a wide range of leadership activities
-
Positively impacted their ability to carry out their current roles across a range of skills, knowledge and understanding
Click here| for further information.
Alternative format
Should you require this programme specification in an alternative format, please contact us on 01473 338000.
UCS reserves the right to amend the information in this programme specification as and when required.