Have you been thinking about starting an apprenticeship in Childcare or Early Years Education but you’ve got some questions that you need answers to? Then this is the blog for you. We’ve asked our current learners what questions they had at the beginning of their apprenticeship journey and we’ve answered the top 3 to give you a helping hand.
Becoming an Early years Educator (EYE) or Teaching Assistant (TA) is a fantastic opportunity to gain experience and qualifications within the childcare and teaching sector. Childcare and teaching can often be tricky industries to get high up in so that’s why we offer apprenticeships within these sectors.
The Early Years Educator (EYE) childcare apprenticeship has had many changes since the start of April 2024. These changes included the removal of the level 3 Diploma to focus more on individual development, a clear and well-sequenced programme which stays up to date with the changes made in Early Years, and more. These changes are here to make sure each learner gets the most out of their apprenticeship and gains great experience within the childcare sector. You can read more about the changes in EYE here.
What further qualifications/ training could I undertake after completing my Level 3 Early Years Educator (EYE) apprenticeship?
We offer free online courses to enhance your own CPD and we also offer the Level 5 Early Years Lead Practitioner (EYLP) which is suitable for Early Years Practitioners in a leadership role.
Our free online courses are a great way to upskill yourself even further after the completion of your apprenticeship. The course of your choice will be entirely remote and flexible meaning you can study wherever and whenever you want. You can study from the comfort of your own home, in a café, outdoors in the sun, or even at a friend or family member’s house! You can also choose the time you want to study to suit you, so it doesn’t get in the way of your career, hobbies, or personal time.
Each course contains a great amount of new and useful knowledge and skills for you to obtain. For example, our Introducing Caring for Children and Young People course would be perfect after the completion of your Early Years Educator (EYE) apprenticeship as you will learn:
- Young children’s development
- Safeguarding the welfare of children and young people
- Use food and nutrition information to plan a healthy diet
- The value of play to young children
- How to respect and value children
With this specific course, you will achieve a Level 2 NCFE nationally recognised qualification, giving evidence of your competency to your current or future employers.
What activities can I use for my Off The Job Training?
Any duty within your daily workload can be used as an Off The Job Training entry if you can identify in good detail what you have learnt from the activity, you are then required to explain how your new knowledge and understanding will have a positive impact on your working role.
Off the Job Training, also known as OTJT, is a way of revising after the workshops in your apprenticeships to gain as much knowledge as you can. Your workshops are classed as OTJT. You could also use other things as OTJT such as going out of your way during work hours to learn more about a certain subject. This could include researching topics to help you upskill yourself, watching videos to support your learning, or speaking to someone senior in your team to gain more knowledge in your sector.
What do the mini mock End Point Assessments consist of?
Your End Point Assessment will be a short recorded discussion where you will asked questions based on the topics that you have been working on, some questions will be multiple-choice answers and for some questions, you will be required to give examples of your own practice, this is nothing to be worried about and is just to see where your areas of strengths are and if any areas for further development is required which we can then work on together.
These discussions are a great way to identify your strengths and weaknesses and build on them with your assessor before your final exam. This will then give you the opportunity to turn all your weaknesses into strengths and work towards gaining the best qualification you can.
After the completion of either an Early Years Educator (EYE) or Teaching Assistant apprenticeship (TA)
, you will gain a fantastic qualification that will stand out to future employers which will open the potential for you to step into a career in the childcare or teaching industry such as nurseries or schools. But that’s only the start! Employers tend to seek out individuals with good experience within the childcare or teaching sector with qualifications to back up the individual’s experience and show they have useful skills and knowledge within the role the employer is hiring for.
Overall, the Early Years Educator and Teaching Assistant apprenticeships are both fantastic career paths to gain experience in the childcare and teaching industries, obtain new skills, behaviours, and knowledge, earn a steady salary throughout, and achieve a nationally recognised qualification at the end.
If you need any more information on either apprenticeships or free online courses, feel free to contact us: at info@ctskills.co.uk or give us a call: at 0115 959 9544.