Leadership and management

The overwhelming evidence from research indicates that high quality early learning and care is essential to give children the concrete start they need to achieve better outcomes in school and beyond. Children who experience high quality provision develop better social, emotional and cognitive abilities. Conversely poor quality provision does not support children’s learning and development in the long term.

The local authority has a duty to secure the provision of information, advice and training to childcare providers and childcare workers. Developing the workforce is integral to all aspects of quality improvement.

The best continuing professional development (CPD) is seen via a systematic framework that is sustainable so that everyone can access it and where content and approaches are based on knowledge of what works well.

Warwickshire Early Years Aspiration Networks support workforce development and quality improvement, as well proving networking opportunities. They are open to all early years practitioners working with children aged birth to five in schools and Early Years settings. The networks are free to attend.

Meetings take place around 5 times a year across Warwickshire. They cover areas such as: effective teaching, learning and assessment; family engagement in learning and what ‘good’ practice looks like and how to achieve it. The focus for each network will be tailored according to the locality. A data package for each group is provided to network leads to help target specific local needs and to plan the focus for the year.