The Need to Nurture – Supporting Early Years Staff through Continuing Professional Development

Garcia, Jayne and Holdgate, Hannah (2025) The Need to Nurture – Supporting Early Years Staff through Continuing Professional Development. Early Education Journal, 106.

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Abstract

The ongoing changes to early years funding in England, coupled with recent ratio changes for 2-year-olds (Ofsted, 2023a; Department for Education, 2024), the current Government policy to increase school-based nursery provision (Department for Education, 2025) and the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis within the early year workforce (Early Years Alliance, 2021; Wallace & Cooper, 2020), continues to disrupt the English early years sector. A strong and stable early years workforce is paramount in helping settings navigate the current early years landscape and ensure that our youngest children receive the very best care and early education. Much has been written regarding the importance of staff qualifications and training within the early years and the impact this has on the quality of early years provision (Sylva et al,2004; Bonetti, & Blanden, 2020), yet access to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities is not what it was 10 to 15 years ago. Local authorities used to provide an abundance of free, in-person, early years training and most settings were in the financial position, and had enough staff available, to release staff to attend CPD opportunities. Austerity measures have led to significant reductions in the number of early years advisors employed by local authorities and the loss of almost all free early years training provided by local authority early years teams in many areas. In addition, paid-for training opportunities provided by local authority early years teams have also reduced significantly. Despite evidence that high-quality CPD opportunities can help retain staff within early years and make them feel valued, employers do not feel they can afford to provide their staff with high-quality CPD opportunities (Wallace & Cooper, 2020). A 2020 report by the Social Mobility Foundation identified early years staff felt there were limited opportunities for career progression and CPD, which contributed to them feeling undervalued (Wallace & Cooper, 2020). The report also suggests that there is evidence that employers who offer high-quality and relevant training, advice and professional support, and where staff are compensated for time they take to train, are more likely to retain qualified staff. Since this 2020 report, there has been some shift in the CPD landscape within early years. The Covid-19 pandemic led to training opportunities being available online in a way they had not previously been. Additionally, the launch of the Stronger Practice Hubs in November 2022 has gone some way to improving access to CPD opportunities for the early years workforce. However, two and half years after their launch, many early years leaders and practitioners are still unaware of their existence. Additionally, there is recognition that despite the Government's commitment to a graduate-led early years workforce and the ongoing (although places are much depleted) funding of Early Years Teacher Status, graduates working within the early childhood education and care sector have limited opportunities for level six and seven CPD. The limited training available is generally focussed at levels two and three. Having worked in the early years sector for more than 20 years and having watched the changing nature of training available, we sought to understand how accessible those working in the early years workforce find the training opportunities available and whether this training meets their needs.

Item Type:	Article
Depositing User:	JISCRouter
Date Deposited:	15 Jan 2026 15:43
Last Modified:	15 Jan 2026 15:43
URI:	https://marjon.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18070

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