Careers in Early Education and Childcare

Childcare professionals make up part of the broader children’s workforce.

Swindon’s Children’s Workforce Strategy (including childcare) plans to develop a workforce that meets the needs of all children, young people and their families in Swindon.

High quality early education and childcare provision has a significant impact on children’s development.

If children are to gain maximum benefit from early education and childcare, practitioners need to be increasingly professional and well-qualified.

Swindon Sure Start Partnership aims to increase the proportion of the childcare workforce with appropriate qualifications, training, skills and knowledge to work with children of all ages. This is driven by:

• A commitment to improving outcomes for children and young people
• The requirement for early education and childcare settings to meet Ofsted qualification requirements.

The outcome will be a workforce that is competent, confident and safe to work with children and young people, and is trusted and respected by those children and young people and their families.

People considering a career in early years and childcare are able to enter the workforce at a variety of qualification levels which could be:

• With no qualifications. In this case there would be an expectation that you would achieve a childcare qualification within an agreed timescale.
• With GCSEs, A levels (or equivalents) with plans to achieve a childcare qualification.
• With a childcare qualification achieved in further education.
• With a degree in Early Years.
• With a degree in subjects that are unrelated in which case there is scope to achieve Early Years Professional Status.

Practitioners have opportunities to work in nurseries, pre schools or out of school settings.

All prospective childminders must do a specific preparatory course Swindon childminders pre-registration course (Local Authority approved) no matter what their educational entry level to the profession.

As early education and childcare is an area of work that is increasingly professional, there are good opportunities for practitioners to develop their skills and build rewarding careers.

Further Information

For further information please call the Recruitment and Training Helpline on 0845 602 3209.

Alternatively, please telephone Job Centre Plus on 0845 604 3719 or visit the website:

www.direct.gov.uk or telephone 0845 606 0234