FREE training programmes to help more than 100 new nursery workers across the West Midlands have been launched.
The Skills Bootcamps into a career in early years will be run by Realise, in conjunction with the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), for the next year as part of measures to help attract new recruits to the sector and provide a regional solution to a national staff shortage.
The course will largely be delivered online and will take learners between three and 12 weeks to complete.
It is open to qualifying candidates in Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
There is a desperate need to attract new people into early years nationwide after the Government announced an expansion to funded hours for childcare which was launched in April and will continue to be implemented over the next 18 months.
Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and an offer of an interview with an employer upon completion.
Funded by the Department for Education, the Skills Bootcamp in early years is open to UK residents aged over 19 and not currently employed in early years.
Individuals who complete the Bootcamp will be guaranteed an interview for a job with a local nursery and will automatically be eligible to begin a Level 3 apprenticeship when they secure employment.
Karen Derbyshire, operations director for early years at Realise, said: “With the number of children eligible for free childcare set to grow substantially in the next 18 months, it’s more important than ever to not only attract new people to the industry but to get them progressing through appropriate training.
“The Skills Bootcamps are a real opportunity for people who are currently unemployed, in another job but looking for a new career or people who have worked in early years previously and are now looking to return to the sector.
“For the learner, it is the chance to take the first steps to forging a new career and for nursery settings, it’s an opportunity to bring new talent into their team.”
In addition to the apprenticeship accelerator Skills Bootcamps, a separate programme is being launched by Realise to support more than 160 current or aspiring nursery management team members in the West Midlands.
The courses have been designed to help create fully effective managers and team leaders at a time when the early years sector is facing a battle to recruit and retain talent.
There are four main groups which will be helped by these Skills Bootcamps – those who have been managers or room leaders for a long time but may not be carrying out full roles and responsibilities, those who have just moved into the role and require some additional support, those who are working in a nursery but aspire to take up a new position and those who have left the industry but are looking to return at, say, a team leader position.
The Room Leader Skills Bootcamp will be delivered to the equivalent of Level 3 training while the Nursery Manager Skills Bootcamp will be targeted at Level 5 standard.
For more click here.
