We know that the quality of leadership in early years (EY) education has an impact on children’s outcomes and that investing in leadership development in EY makes a positive difference. Funded by the Nuffield Foundation and housed in Middlesex University and the Education Policy Institute, in this project, we examine the potentials of digitally mediated professional learning (DMPL) to open up, expand and improve leadership development opportunities for EY leaders across the UK.

View our project video below to find out more!

In 2022, we hosted design thinking workshops as part of a Nuffield Foundation project on advancing leadership development in the UK early years (EY) sector. Workshop participants asked us to do some research on the similarities and differences between the four nations. In a series of blogposts, we will discuss the key features of the leadership development landscape in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We aim to offer a snapshot of what each nation does when it comes to supporting leadership in EY and how they do it. While each nation refers to EY in their own ways, we use the term ‘EY’ throughout our blogposts in order to simplify the dialogue.

In this article, we consider three features of Northern Ireland’s EY leadership development landscape:

1. Qualifications required by EY leaders
2. How professional learning is supported in Northern Ireland
3. The future of leadership development in Northern Ireland

Qualifications required by EY leaders

The Northern Irish government requires EY leaders to achieve a Level 5 Diploma in Children’s Care, Learning and Development (Management). While this is the minimum requirement, leaders are also encouraged to achieve degree level qualifications such as a Bachelors or Masters degree in Early Childhood Studies.

The level 5 qualification is offered by local further education colleges across Northern Ireland as well as by sector bodies and training agencies. The Northern Council for Further Education, or the NCFE, is one of the bodies that provides this training. They expect programme participants to have leadership responsibilities upon entry as well as a level 3 qualification. Local councils provide funding to support EY leaders as they pursue this qualification.

How professional learning is supported in Northern Ireland

Early Years- The Organisation for Young Children is the main EY sector body in Northern Ireland. They currently deliver non-accredited leadership courses for EY leaders such as Recruitment and Selection of Early Years Staff and Support and Supervision of Early Years Staff. In the past, they delivered courses called Leadership and Outcomes, Compassionate Leadership, and Leading Resilience. These courses provide support for EY leaders by developing key leadership and management skills.

Additionally, some local council schemes provide funding for general leadership learning that EY leaders can participate in. While the training is not tailored specifically to EY leadership, the leadership skills taught are transferable to the EY sector.

The future of leadership development in Northern Ireland

The Northern Irish government is in the midst of undertaking several reviews that will impact the EY sector as a whole, including EY leadership development. The government is developing a new early learning and care strategy, creating a clear vision for the future of EY in Northern Ireland.  Moreover, the Strategic Planning and Performance Group are conducting a qualification audit and the government is undertaking a review of the qualifications needed to teach in government funded preschool programmes. The professional development of EY leaders will play a key part in this as decisions about qualifications are made.

Additionally, Early Years- The Organisation for Young Children recently published a strategic plan for their organisation for the years 2022-2026. They flagged continuous professional development for EY professionals as a priority within this strategy, showing that this will be a key focus over the next four years. Therefore, there may be more professional learning for EY leaders available in the near future.

Sharing learning

As we share learning across the four nations, we want to encourage your contributions in the comments below.

• Is this an accurate portrait of Northern Ireland?
• What have we captured well and what are we missing? How does Northern Ireland compare to your national context? What would you like to emulate or learn from?
• What are you taking away about leadership development?

In 2022, we hosted design thinking workshops as part of a Nuffield Foundation project on advancing leadership development in the UK early years (EY) sector. Workshop participants asked us to do some research on the similarities and differences between the four nations. In a series of blogposts, we will discuss the key features of the leadership development landscape in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We aim to offer a snapshot of what each nation does when it comes to supporting leadership in EY and how they do it. While each nation refers to EY in their own ways, we use the term ‘EY’ throughout our blogposts in order to simplify the dialogue.

In this article, we consider three features of the Welsh EY leadership development landscape:

1. Leadership in Wales’ EY workforce strategy
2. Qualifications required by EY leaders
3. Playwork leadership

Leadership in Wales’ EY workforce strategy

The Welsh government put forth a 10-year workforce strategy in December 2017 titled Childcare, Play and Early Years Workforce Plan. This document detailed a vision for the EY sector that aimed to ensure children receive the best possible care in Wales.

The workforce strategy noted that the Welsh government would work with Social Care Wales to provide recommendations for continuing professional development (CPD), ensuring that EY professionals are constantly bettering their practice. This would also provide a steer for EY leaders to focus on CPD as a part of their role. Moreover, the workforce strategy discussed creating clear career pathways for aspiring EY leaders, making it easier for EY professionals to understand how to enter leadership positions.

The Welsh government is currently developing a new workforce strategy in which they will consider the role of CPD and, specifically, how to encourage leadership development.

Qualifications required by EY leaders

EY leaders in Wales must achieve a level 5 in Children’s Care, Play, Learning and Development (CCPLD).

One pathway to achieve this is to start with a level 2 qualification in CCPLD. This leads into a City and Guilds level 3 in CCPLD: Practice which qualifies the learner as an EY professional. The learner would then complete a City and Guilds level 4 titled Preparing for Leadership and Management in CCPLD and conclude with the City and Guilds level 5 in Leadership and Management of CCPLD: Practice.

This pathway to achieve a leadership qualification in Wales supports EY leaders to develop the essential skills needed to confidently and effectively lead and manage their setting.

Playwork leadership

In 2002, Wales became the first government in the world to set forth a policy on children’s play. It follows that playwork is an integral part of the Welsh EY system. More recently in February 2023, the Welsh government set out a document titled Ministerial Review of Play which details how the government and supporting agencies can champion play for children.

Qualifications for playwork professionals, delivered as a level 1, 2, 3 and 5, are in accordance with the National Occupational Standards (NOS). The level 3 qualification focuses on playwork leadership while the level 5 qualification goes in-depth into leading playwork in settings and the community. There are transitional courses available from childcare to playwork, forming a bridge between the sectors to support EY leaders entering playwork leadership.

Sharing learning

As we share learning across the four nations, we want to encourage your contributions in the comments below.

• Is this an accurate portrait of Wales?
• What have we captured well and what are we missing? How does Wales compare to your national context? What would you like to emulate or learn from?
• What are you taking away about leadership development?

In 2022, we hosted design thinking workshops as part of a Nuffield Foundation project on advancing leadership development in the UK early years (EY) sector. Workshop participants asked us to do some research on the similarities and differences between the four nations. In a series of blogposts, we will discuss the key features of the leadership development landscape in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We aim to offer a snapshot of what each nation does when it comes to supporting leadership in EY and how they do it. While each nation refers to EY in their own ways, we use the term ‘EY’ throughout our blogposts in order to simplify the dialogue.

In this article, we consider three features of England’s EY leadership development landscape:

1. Qualifications required by EY leaders
2. Early Years Education Recovery Programme
3. National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL)

Qualifications required by EY leaders

The English government requires EY leaders to obtain a level 3 qualification in Early Years and have two years of experience working in an EY setting. The level 3 qualification, which is also required to be a qualified EY educator, primarily focuses on how to support young children’s learning and development. One of the most common routes to achieve the level 3 is through apprenticeship, which is when an EY professional works in a nursery as they pursue their qualification.

For EY leaders, obtaining a level 3 qualification means they will have pedagogical knowledge of working with young children, further strengthened by the two years of experience in the field.

Early Years Education Recovery Programme

Coming out of the pandemic, the Department for Education developed a suite of programmes under the title Early Years Education Recovery Programme. These programmes aim to support EY professionals in settings that were negatively impacted by the pandemic. Of the programmes available, the Experts and Mentors programme and Stronger Practice Hubs were specifically crafted with EY leaders in mind.

Launched in Autumn 2022, the Experts and Mentors programme offers mentoring for EY practitioners and coaching for EY leaders in settings that have been rated inadequate by Ofsted or that deliver the disadvantaged two-year-old offer. The programme provides tailored support to EY professionals with the goal of strengthening provision and supporting children who have fallen behind due to the pandemic.

Stronger Practice Hubs, also launched in Autumn 2022, focuses on cultivating local networks of EY professionals and leaders across England to improve the quality of setting provision through dialogues. The programme does this by encouraging practice sharing and professional learning across the sector.

For EY leaders, both of these programmes fill a need for tailored leadership development that centres relationships and reflection, empowering leaders to strengthen their skillset and support their settings.

National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL)

In addition to the above, the NPQEYL was launched in Autumn 2022 as part of the Department for Education recovery suite. This qualification is aimed at nursery managers, school-heads with nurseries and childminders with leadership responsibilities. It is expected that participants will have a level 3 or above in EY prior to participation.

This programme focuses specifically on developing the skillsets of current and aspiring leaders so they are equipped to lead an EY setting. It explores topics such as organisational management and developing a setting’s culture which are essential to leadership but not explored in a traditional level 3 qualification. This provides EY leaders with management-specific professional development that supports their leadership development journey.

Sharing learning

As we share learning across the four nations, we want to encourage your contributions in the comments below.

• Is this an accurate portrait of England?
• What have we captured well and what are we missing? How does England compare to your national context? What would you like to emulate or learn from?
• What are you taking away about leadership development?

In 2022, we hosted design thinking workshops as part of a Nuffield Foundation project on advancing leadership development in the UK early years (EY) sector. Workshop participants asked us to do some research on the similarities and differences between the four nations. In a series of blogposts, we will discuss the key features of the leadership development landscape in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We aim to offer a snapshot of what each nation does when it comes to supporting leadership in EY and how they do it. While each nation refers to EY in their own ways, we use the term ‘EY’ throughout our blogposts in order to simplify the dialogue.

In this article, we zoom in on three features of Scotland’s EY leadership development landscape. While Scotland refers to the sector as Early Learning and Care (ELC), in this article we use the acronym EY throughout as we consider:

1. Leadership in Scotland’s EY workforce strategy
2. Qualifications required by EY leaders
3. Professional development requirements as part of the workforce registry

Leadership in Scotland’s EY workforce strategy

The Scottish government set out a workforce strategy in 2017 titled A Blueprint for 2020: The Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland. This document provided a clear vision for how to increase the quality of childcare across the nation. A key part of this plan was to develop the EY workforce and support graduate level EY professionals.

The document lays out a number of items including a focus on apprentices and working with local authorities to develop career pathways. The government also created a separate Skills Investment Plan in 2017 and conducted a skills assessment in 2021 to address their goal of upskilling the workforce. In the Skills Investment Plan, the government specifically states the importance of EY leaders having the skills they need to manage settings and lead pedagogy. Based on this, supporting leadership development at all levels was set out as a key task. Now, another workforce strategy is under review to ensure an up-to-date and continuous forward momentum for the sector.

Qualifications required by EY Leaders

Scotland requires EY leaders to achieve a Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework, or SCQF, level 4 and work towards a BA (SCQF level 9) to lead a nursery setting.

There are a number of clear pathways to achieve this qualification. For example, EY professionals can take the National Certificate route where they begin by achieving their SCQF level 6. They would then move to achieve their Higher National Certificate (SCQF level 7) and Higher National Diploma (SCQF level 8) before undertaking their BA in childcare education (SCQF level 9). This is just one of the many pathways aspiring leaders can take.

Professional development requirements as part of the workforce registry

In Scotland, all EY professionals, including leaders, are required to register with the Scottish Social Services Council’s workforce registry. To maintain this registration, professionals must undertake mandatory professional learning, ensuring that Scotland’s EY workforce is constantly honing their skillsets.

To ensure all EY professionals have access to professional learning, the Scottish Government provides funding to local councils. Local councils have a workforce development fund where EY professionals can apply for funding to use towards training and accredited qualifications and non-accredited trainings. Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) also provides funding for accredited qualifications. Finally, organisations such as Early Years Scotland, Children in Scotland, Education Scotland, Scottish Social Services Council, and the Care Inspectorate learning hub provide CPD opportunities, alongside private sector training providers.

While these services are meant to help all EY professionals participate in professional learning, it is expected that those in leadership roles will participate in professional learning that focuses on leadership development.

Sharing learning

As we share learning across the four nations, we want to encourage your contributions in the comments below.

• Is this an accurate portrait of Scotland?
• What have we captured well and what are we missing? How does Scotland compare to your national context? What would you like to emulate or learn from?
• What are you taking away about leadership development?

Our research with UK training providers of EY leadership development has shown that while virtual courses can be a useful tool for accessing leadership development, it’s important to know what to look for in online learning. In February 2023, we published an article with Under 5 Magazine outlining three main things to look out for in online leadership development:

1. It should be immediately relevant to your day-to-day work in EY

The leadership development you choose should fit with the busy daily experience of leading in an EY setting. Programmes need to work with your schedule, making it possible to balance your responsibilities as you improve your leadership skills. This could take the form of short programme sessions, morning and evening video calls, or self-paced content.

• It should have chances for authentic reflection

Leadership development programmes should respond to EY leaders’ distinctive experiences, holding space for you to reflect on the nuances of your setting. This can take a variety of forms, such as providing question prompts that provoke your thinking, encouraging conversations with peers, and suggesting action steps to try in your setting. These methods encourage you to reflect on how general leadership theories link to your daily work.

• It should have chances for community and connection

Online leadership development should encourage collaborative learning, providing insight into the perspectives and experiences of others and forming supportive networks that promote best leadership practice. There are many ways to connect over and share our leadership experiences, including joining a cohort, engaging in discussion forums and online meetings, and accessing one-to-one coaching and mentoring.

To find out more, visit Under 5 Magazine’s February issue!