Jan Dubiel shares his thoughts on the importance of targeted CPD

One of the most significant features of the Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP) is its unashamed and deliberate focus on the pre-Reception Years of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

This specific age-related focus fully acknowledges the importance of this element of the phase and the vital, unique and explicit strands of development that take place within it. This focus also ensures that the EYPDP channels the expertise and specialism of early years practitioners to ensure that all the materials are fully concentrated on supporting children aged 2-4, and provide appropriate and detailed advice and guidance to optimise the impact of their interactions and provision. Success for children at this point in their educational journey is a vital prerequisite for elevated long term outcomes.

This recognition is a vital link in the sequential development and progress of children in the EYFS and by tailoring the Professional Development content to directly enable and facilitate this is a salient feature of the Programme. Although the outcomes at the end of the reception year (YR) are assessed and measured through the EYFS Profile and provide the only national data for the impact of the EYFS, the pathway towards success at this point is a continual element of EYFS practice and provision.

The specifically targeted content of the EYPDP and its clear intention to aid understanding, empowers early years practitioners and childminders to be confident in their knowledge and understanding of the process of learning and enabling progress. This in turn will ease the path that children take to enter the final year of the EYFS – more able, more developed, and more knowledgeable in the key elements of the Curriculum that are addressed. This too will lead to a more elevated ‘starting point’ at the beginning of YR and therefore increase the likelihood of attaining a Good Level of Development in the EYFS Profile Assessment.