Level 3 Early Years Educator Apprenticeship Programme Guide

LEVEL 3 EARLY YEARS EDUCATOR

Level 3 Early Years Educator Apprenticeship

Maximum Programme Duration: 19 months (including End Point Assessment period)

Whatwillbeachieved?

Level 3 Early Years Educator Standard

Level 2 Functional Skills in Maths and English (if no prior exemptions)

Full paediatric first aid (PFA) or an emergency PFA certificate

Behaviours:

Confident to have difficult conversations

Child-centred and empathetic, valuing equality, diversity, and inclusion and the uniqueness of each child

Vigilant and act with professional curiosity.

Caring, compassionate and sensitive

Honest, open, respectful, and a role model

Self-motivated, using initiative and proactive

Playful and creative

Reflective and reflexive and committed to CPD.

Health, safety and relationships

Understand health, safety and safeguarding legislation

Understand policies and procedures

Understand own roles and responsibilities

Understand the importance of partnership working

Understand how to manage risks

Understand how to deal with accidents and emergencies

Non-Levy Cost: £350

Programme Delivery

This programme is delivered using a blended learning approach, combining face-to-face tutorials with remote workshops, online learning resources and support including:

Tutorials and one-to-one mentoring E-portfolio and e-learning

Additional learning and training arranged by the learners employer, this may include job shadowing/in house training programmes relevant to the course and dedicated time in the day to study, of at least 6 hours per week

2-hour one-to-one visits every 4 to 6 weeks with a dedicated tutor and formal quarterly progress reviews with the manager and tutor.

The Apprenticeship Journey

The Level 3 Early Years Educator apprenticeship standard sets out the knowledge, skills and behaviours that is required to be an effective practitioner The programme has been structured around three key themes of learning to support learners to develop their knowledge and skills in a logical manner:

Child development

Understand the role and responsibility of a key person

Understand expected patterns of development

Understand how to support children with additional needs

Understand the observation, assessment and planning cycle

Understand the importance of enabling environments

Inclusion and Professional Development in Early Years

Understand the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion

The legal rights of each individual child according to their current and future needs

Understand the importance of continuous professional development

up to Leadership in Early Years

Functional skills programme 70% of our visits take place face to face

Action Learning Sets

Who is the programme for and what will be involved?

This Early Years Educator Apprenticeship standard has been designed for individuals who have experience working in the Early Years sector, who already have a level 2 qualification, and wish to significantly develop their knowledge and understanding to become a level 3 qualified practitioner.

Learners will be assigned a qualified tutor to provide them with help and support delivered by a blended learning approach combining on and off-the-job training to ensure they develop the skills required for their role. Learners with support from their tutor, as needed, complete a range of online learning modules that develop their underpinning knowledge of the Early Years sector and how to effectively support children in their development. The learning from these topics is formally assessed through the End Point Assessment tasks. To achieve this, learners must have at least 6 hours of protected study time each week.

In addition to developing the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to be a successful Early Years Educator, learners will, if 19 or over at the start of their apprenticeship, have the option of working towards Level 2 Functional Skills qualifications in English and maths. Functional Skills are mandatory for apprentices aged 16-18 (unless they have GCSE equivalents at grades 94/A* - C in these subjects).

Learners will develop competence and confidence at work with a range of resources designed to allow access to online learning, videos, workshops and more.

End Point Assessment (EPA)

This programme is formally assessed by an independent end point assessor using two methods:

Professional Discussion underpinned by a portfolio of evidence

During the apprenticeship, the learner will generate evidence of the knowledge, skills and behaviours gained which will be uploaded to an e-Portfolio through our Aptem system. The independent assessor will review the portfolio prior to the assessment and use a 90 minute professional discussion to assess the learner's competence and understanding.

ObservationandQ&A

Learnersarerequiredtobeobservedfor50-minutestodemonstratetheknowledge,skillsandbehavioursthey havegainedduringtheirapprenticeship.Followingtheobservation,thelearnerwilltakepartina30-minute questioningtoallowtheendpointassessortoclarifytheirperformanceandtocoveranyaspectsthatwerenot observed.