Welcome to the EYPS Forum!

The EYPS forum was launched in April 2008 to support EYPs and EYPS candidates. If your local authority subscribes to the EYPSf subscription scheme, you have full access to the website's facilities. To access the list of participating LAs, click here. If your LA isn't a member of the EYPSf you can now join by registering and subscribing as an individual (annual subscription is £42 including VAT).

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The University of Worcester has been successfully delivering Early Years Professional Status programmes through a government contract since the inception of the status. The University of Worcester holds one of only eight prestigious National contracts to deliver Early Years Teacher Initial Teacher training in September 2013. Early Years Teachers will create, inspire and lead the best practice with young children.

The University is the lead provider of the Early Years Teacher Training Programme for early years practitioners across the West Midlands and South West regions working in partnership with University of Gloucestershire; University College Plymouth St Mark & St John; Newman University College; and the Somerset Centre for Integrated Learning (SCIL).

The closing date for applications for the September 2013 entry to Early Years initial teacher training pathways is: Friday 14 June.

Other providers for the Early Years Teacher Status programme are Anglia Ruskin University, Best Practice Network, Eastern Leadership Centre, Kingston University, Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Chichester, and the University of Northampton.

More great childcare- the Government's response to the Nutbrown recommendations- January 29th 2013

Key features of the report:

  • Early Years Teachers. We want more high quality graduates to work in the early years. Early Years Professionals have helped improve the quality of early education but public recognition of their status remains low. We will introduce Early Years Teachers to build upon the strengths of the Early Years Professionals programme. Early Years Teachers will specialise in early childhood development and meet the same entry requirements and pass the same skills tests as trainee school teachers. We will start training the first Early Years Teachers from September 2013. We will improve the existing standards for Early Years Professionals so that they more closely match the Teaching Standards for classroom teachers. Early Years Teachers will have to meet the same entry requirements as primary classroom trainee teachers – at least a C grade in English, maths and science at GCSE. From September 2014, they will be required to pass the same skills tests as classroom teacher trainees before they start their courses.
  • Early Years Educators. We must also improve the quality of people below graduate level working in the early years. In future, people will train at Level 3 to become Early Years Educators. Only the best qualifications, which meet rigorous criteria set out by the Teaching Agency, will earn the ‘Early Years Educator’ title. All Early Years Educators will be required to have at least a C grade in GCSE English and maths. They will often act as assistants to Early Years Teachers.
  • The Nutbrown recommendation that "Any individual holding Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) should be able to access routes to obtain QTS as a priority" was not accepted. The report states "Those with EYPS are graduates already trained specifically to work with babies and children from birth to five years. Existing Early Years Professionals will in future be seen as the equivalent of Early Years Teachers. Early Years Professionals will therefore not need to obtain QTS to increase their status, although routes are already available to QTS if they wish to take them."

Read the full report here



Our Local Authority Membership scheme ;

Welcome back Leicestershire and Oldham renewing for a second year.  A special welcome back to Ealing, Cornwall and Surrey who have now renewed for a third year. RB of Kingston upon Thames, Norfolk, Herefordshire and Hampshire are back for a 4th year!  Special welcome back to Darlington, Suffolk, Worcestershire, Portsmouth City, LB of Richmond, Kent , Wigan, Cumbria, Essex, Brighton & Hove, West Sussex, Southampton, Oxfordshire, Northumberland and  East Sussex,  renewing for a 5th Year.....some of our very first LAs to join the EYPS forum.  Current members from these authorities need do nothing: their account subscriptions will automatically be renewed.  Lastly special welcome back to Derbyshire and Wandsworth renewing for the 6th Year!


Latest Articles

A Guide for EYPS Work-based Mentors

April 25th, 2013
Ruksana Mohammed outlines an effective framework of support to EYPS candidates through the work-based mentor. Her suggestions, however, would be of great use to anyone supporting students on a variety of courses, for example Foundation Degrees, and the upcoming Early Years Teacher courses starting September 2013. Ruksana is the EYPS Programme Leader and a Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at the University of East London.

Thinking Approaches for the Reflective Professional

March 8th, 2013
Our aim as professionals is to achieve better outcomes for children, families and the community. We want to provide effective learning experiences for the children in our care, and strive for continuous quality improvement, but also want to ensure personal and professional development. With this shared understanding and vision of the early years, reflection, through adopting certain thinking approaches, is the tool that supports us to achieve this. Ruksana Mohammed, Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at the University of East London identifies some effective processes we can adopt to develop our skills of reflection.

Being an EYP Change Agent

January 21st, 2013
Ruksana Mohammed, EYPS Programme Leader at the University of East London, takes us through the demands of being an agent for change. ‘Agents for change’ or 'change agent' are normally the expressions associated with the role of EYPs. They are hands-on with children, and in positions where they can model good practice for others in the team in order to raise standards. EYPs are entrusted to identify what change is valuable, worthwhile and in need of improving, and to then lead the team on to better practice. The best way to describe a change agent is thinking about the EYP with a torch showing others the light in the dark!

Being the ‘First Port of Call for all questions’

August 3rd, 2012
How do you keep up to date with changes in the sector? Kathy Brodie summarises the main information hubs for you.

Creating a Themed Environment for Babies

July 18th, 2012
Louise Day, our EYP of the Year 2012, tells us about an exciting project she has been leading at Wally's Day Nursery & Pre-School in Trowbridge. Louise was awarded EYPS in Jan 2011 which she undertook with Best Practice Network following a BA (Hons) degree at Winchester University in Education Studies, specialising in Early Childhood.She also completed Level 3 in Childcare and Education in eight months during her gap year.

Baby Moves

July 6th, 2012
Claire won second prize in our EYP of the Year competition, with her Baby Moves programme: a 6-week rolling programme of physical movement workshops for babies from birth to walking. The session runs once a week and each session includes an attachment and bonding, social and emotional, visual, movement and relaxation activity. Parents and carers are guided through each activity by an Early Years Worker (EYW) and given information about its benefits. Here, Claire tells us how she created the programme and the impact it has had on her babies and parents at Mossley Children's Centre, Tameside.

Supporting Children's Executive Function Skills

July 4th, 2012
Victoria won third prize in our EYP of the Year 21012 competition. Here is her entry: her enthusiasm for quality early years provision is tangible!

Using Self-Reflection Diaries: Some thoughts on a worthwhile and rewarding habit.

July 3rd, 2012
When I say to most EYPs that it’s a really good idea to do yet another piece of paperwork, they usually look at me as if I was mad. However, I firmly believe that this is one piece of paperwork that will change the whole of your practice. I've known about the idea of reflective journals for some time, but it wasn’t until I did my Masters that the real benefits became obvious.

Early Years 2012 Conference

June 26th, 2012
Helen Edwards attended the recent govnet event, featuring Sarah Teather, Liz Bayram, Ann Gross, Sue Robb, Liz Elsom, Cathy Nutbrown, and Dame Clare Tickell. Here is a summary of the main issues discussed.

Put yourself in their shoes: designing and delivering a training session that will work

June 8th, 2012
As an EYP, a major part of your role will be to keep your team up to date with good practice. As part of this, you will be expected to design and deliver training sessions for practitioners. These may be whole staff briefings on subjects such as the EYFS or small group sessions about something particular to that age group, such as the nappy changing procedures. The common aspect will be that the practitioners should be better informed after the session than they were before it. Designing a training session from scratch can be very daunting. Unlike University, where you were given the topic parameters and expected contents, you will have to decide on the content and style of your own training session. With so much information out there, how do you decide what to include? And how can you effectively communicate that to your colleagues?