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DfE confirms early years recovery spending programmes

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Oct 28, 2021

By Rachel LawlerBaby in a pram early years training recovery programme

The Department for Education (DfE) has shared details of the Early Years Education Recovery Programme, which has been allocated 拢153 million of funding to help support children's learning and development in the aftermath of the Covid-19 outbreak.

The programme will include:

  • A Stronger Practice programme, including:
    • online training to upskill practitioners and improve their knowledge of child development;
    • access to mentoring support targeted at settings most in need; and
    • an EY innovation programme to provide opportunities for settings to explore innovative practice
       
  • An expansion of the Professional Development Programme 
     
  • A review and reform of Level 3 qualifications
     
  • An expansion of SENCO training to increase the number of staff in group-based providers, and childminders, with an accredited Level 3 SENCO qualification
     
  • Expanded numbers of places for initial teacher training in EY, to increase the supply of qualified graduates to the sector
     
  • Programmes to train early years practitioners to support parents with home learning

Alliance chief executive Neil Leitch commented: 鈥淲hile we welcome any increased funding on early years training, it鈥檚 hard to shake the feeling that the early years recovery programme funding has been used to pay for professional development support that the sector should have already been receiving from government.  

鈥淭hough we know that qualified, well-trained early years professionals play a key role in supporting children鈥檚 early learning, many of the programmes outlined do not seem to have a clear link to specifically supporting children鈥檚 educational recovery after months of lost learning. If this programme is to have a genuine, tangible impact on those children most impacted by the pandemic, then that needs to be its focus 鈥 but this is not clear from the details released so far.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 more, while the 拢153 million in funding is an increase from the 拢10m of support originally announced, it represents just 3% of total education recovery spending, which now sits at almost 拢5 billion. If the government is genuinely waking up to the value of supporting the early years, then it鈥檚 clear that much greater investment into supporting education recovery in our sector must be an urgent priority.鈥 

Find out more
Early years recovery factsheet