Centre of Vocational Excellence

Centre of Vocational Excellence ~ Early Years, Playwork & Children's Services

This is a very special website because it comes at a time when Early Years is very high on the National Agenda. ‘Every Child Matters’ and other government initiatives will impact heavily upon us all. We hope that you find it easy to use and useful.

Please contact us if you have any comments or suggestions or would like to be involved in the work.

What is the Centre of Vocational Excellence?

The Learning and Skills Council identified a real need for quality training in the area of Early Years Playwork & Children’s Services within Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. As a result they invited specific colleges and training providers to become involved and demonstrate why they felt they would be able to become a Centre of Vocational Excellence.

The underpinning aims were to bring together colleges and training providers who already had productive and effective relationships with Employers and were able to demonstrate that they had sound success rates and were innovative in what they did. Becoming a Centre of Vocational Excellence means that the colleges and training providers can develop the work they already do and be innovative. Strong links with employers, voluntary agencies, statutory bodies and other colleges and providers are an essential component of being a Centre of Vocational Excellence. The CoVE is all about meeting the needs of employers and employees and sharing good practice.

The LSC supports the work of the CoVE at all stages by providing financial advice. They also act as a bridge between the CoVE and other agencies.

So what are the real aims of this CoVE?

The focus of the partners, as brought together by the LSC is as follows:

to increase the supply and choice of good quality learning to meet the significant lack of specialised training available at Level 2 and 3 in this sector to increase the number of trainers and assessors qualified in Playwork

to increase the number of assessors for early years and children’s services
to assist employers to meet the demands set out by the Green Paper ‘Every Child Matters’ 2004 and the ‘National Childcare Strategy’
to be proactive in the development of training that reflects the Common Core of skills and knowledge for the children’s workforce
to be innovative in supporting the single qualifications framework
to increase the volume of qualified staff to meet the expansion of childcare provision such as early education and extended services in schools
to improve the numbers of qualified staff at levels 2 & 3. There is a statutory requirement that 50% of staff working in pre-schools and day nurseries to Level 2 and all those in supervisory positions be qualified to Level 3
to enable settings to meet Ofsted targets, so that 94% of settings inspected are making satisfactory or better progress in delivering Early Learning Goals
to provide innovative and flexible ways of delivering training
to disseminate good practice to other partners and training providers
to increase skills levels in the sector (there are an estimated 1342 childcare organisations in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight with an estimated 14,040 employed in the sector. Organisations include crèches, full day care, out of school clubs, holiday clubs, sessional day care, school day care providers and childminders. These figures do not include children’s services and those working as volunteers)
to provide tailored training opportunities to the voluntary sector
to attract more men to work in the sector and to encourage mature women to return
to train those working with babies up to late adolescence
to facilitate a flexible workforce that can work across different age ranges

Who is involved in the CoVE?

There are 4 partners:
South Downs College (Lead Partner) ~ Ann Gorecki
Fareport Training ~ Christina Miles
Isle of Wight College ~ Lynne Christopher
Brockenhurst College ~ Anne Oldfield

Each partner brings specific strengths to the CoVE and are working closely together to meet the aims listed above.

If you require further information about this CoVE then please call Ann Gorecki the CoVE Manager on:

023 9279 7979 Ext 425