Maureen Lee’s article in The EYE (March 2019) about the benefits of having an Early Years Teacher (EYT) trainee, inspired me to contribute and offer further examples of how and why we should be advocating for EYTs in our settings and in schools.

A Case Study: Attenborough Church Pre-School

Attenborough Church Pre-School is a charity-run pack away setting which employs two part time graduates.  Both graduates came on to the programme in September 2018. The setting has been instrumental in supporting and encouraging the two trainees to apply for the course and with their on-going training.  There has been a considerable amount of extra work as a result of this, in terms of mentoring, facilitating university days, a six week placement each in an alternative setting, plus the 10 days out in a KS1 setting, not to mention the administrative tasks, however, the benefits have far outweighed this.

Both trainees have been so enthusiastic that their energy has been contagious and they have managed to bring all other members of staff along with them. The manager reports that all staff are now talking and acting differently as a result of all members of staff using the Early Years Teachers’ Standards as their new professional benchmark, working together to endorse their existing professional qualities and to support each other’s further development. Their love of children’s learning and development has been reinvigorated and along with it, their own love of learning. The team are all on a learning journey together which has been prompted by the experiences of the two EYT trainees. The conversations that staff are having have changed and children’s learning and play is more purposeful than ever before.

Open and interested management

The success in part is because the management and all staff have been open to change and open to suggestions and have not felt threatened. The reasons for this are two-fold: experienced and reflective management and the approaches of the trainees who have worked very collegially.  As the trainees were already employed at the setting they had good relationships with staff, however, it is still difficult to implement changes in a sustained way.  Here are some of the changes they have made in the four months they have been on the programme:

Developing the reading area; adopting a ‘scribe my story’ and displaying these; changes to phonics planning; increasing daily maths; adopting more creative areas in all rooms; changes to the reporting to parents; focussing on next steps and ensuring that all children are moving forward; targeted small group planning to support the achievement of identified goals; greater sharing of ideas; increasing reflective practice to help maintain a culture that is open to continuous improvement.

All staff benefit

What was particularly heartening when I have been out to the setting on visits is the evidence that all staff are benefitting from the course: knowledge is being cascaded, and as we know, if staff benefit, so too will the children.  One trainee commented to her mentor (the manager) whilst we were having a professional discussion, ‘oh it’s in that book I lent you’.  Staff training has been initiated by the trainees during the half-termly staff training meetings as well on a daily basis.

Morale at the setting is very high and the Chairperson spoke of a ‘buzz’. Parents have welcomed the increase in information flow and have been supportive of the trainees, understanding the need for them to undertake placements elsewhere and valuing the insights that they bring back.

“I have seen it as a real inspiration to our other team practitioners. The knowledge that the trainees have brought into the setting has helped show the importance of these early years and show that a good foundation for all children is paramount. All of our team’s confidence has grown along with our trainees who have been brilliant at filtering down their learning to others and incorporating their ideas into sessions. I also took on the role of mentoring (for the first time) which I have found very rewarding. It gave time for us to reflect on our practice and to think about what was working, what could be improved etc. It has helped us form good, strong relationships with good communication skills. I felt it was beneficial to the whole setting.”  Debby Stevens Pre-School Manager:

More trainees, please!

The setting will have two qualified EYTs next year, and will be looking to support further trainees with placement opportunities.  The overall experience of having EYT trainees as part of the team has been invaluable in helping all of the team leap forward as reflective practitioners who have high aspirations for themselves, for the Pre-School and most importantly, for our children.