Article 30/09/2024

Early childhood education gets a boost as 10,000 practitioners register for EDT’s Early Years Professional Development Programme

The Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP) forms part of the UK government’s early years education recovery package to support the sector post-pandemic. We are proud to share that, since the launch of the third phase of EYPDP in February 2023, an impressive 10,000 early years practitioners across four cohorts have registered for access to the EYPDP.

Delivered through a blended mix of online learning and group-based webinars over an eight-month period, early years practitioners cover three core modules created by sector experts in Communication and Language, Early Mathematics, and Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

Whilst many practitioners already have a solid understanding of these core areas, the EYPDP is helping to refresh their knowledge and enhance the quality of their interactions with children. This is leading to practitioners feeling more knowledgeable and confident in their roles, and more motivated to continue working in the sector.

“We had Ofsted in for a re-registration of our site recently and the inspector was blown away, and said she’d never seen so much maths in one place! I told her that we’d had a maths week where we’d reviewed and relaunched our maths and she was really impressed.”

Lucy, Setting Manager and EYPDP participant, Harrow

Programme Director of the EYPDP, Lyn Challender, is passionate about the impact this programme can have on children’s development. In a recent podcast, Lyn spoke about improving early years education for all:

“Educators across the country have noted that children aged two to four are still hugely affected by the pandemic. The knock-on effects are already being seen in settings where children aren’t at the developmental level for language and communication, early mathematics, and their emotional and social development is not where it needs to be.

“It is absolutely crucial that children receive good quality provision, and we know that by working with our key partners on this targeted content, this programme will help practitioners to support those children most affected.”

Lyn Challender, Programme Director of the EYPDP, EDT

Listen to the full podcast episode on improving early childhood education for all here.

Find out more about the Early Years Professional Development Programme.

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