Skills Bootcamp in Early Years

It focuses on helping children grow in personal, social and emotional ways, while also exploring the main strategies and ideas used in early years education.

You’ll learn about professional development, the different jobs and responsibilities in childcare, and practical ways to support healthy routines for children, including food and nutrition. There’s also a strong focus on helping children build speech, language and communication skills. Safeguarding is covered throughout, because it’s at the heart of working with children. You’ll look at why play matters in the Early Years and how to create environments that make play possible and meaningful. Plus, one of the units gives you the skills to follow legislation around equality, diversity and inclusive practice. You’ll finish with useful techniques for supporting healthy habits through physical activity and helping children make the shift into school.

This Skills Bootcamp sits within the Accelerated Apprenticeship approach. It’s designed to help learners move quickly from Skills Bootcamps into Apprenticeships. Get a head start on your apprenticeship by starting with a Skills Bootcamp.

8 weeks (2 days each week)

Financial Incentives

The government has broadened the 30-hour free childcare scheme for working parents. Instead of starting later, it now begins when your child reaches nine months old and continues until they’re ready to start school. Already, over 100,000 parents of two-year-olds have signed up, using the early part of the rollout to access 15 hours of free childcare from April 2024.

To make sure providers are ready for the change, the government put in an extra £200 million for the sector back in September 2023. They’ve also committed to more than £400 million for 2024-25, aimed at improving hourly rates across early years entitlements.

There’s also a new recruitment trial planned, with the goal of increasing the number of staff in nurseries and other early years settings. This should help more childcare places become available for parents. New recruits will get a £1,000 bonus when they begin their first childcare role *depending on eligibility.

• Professional development and career roles within childcare
• Supporting children’s emotional health and secure attachments
• Encouraging healthy lifestyles through food and nutrition, including spotting the benefits
• Understanding learning strategies and theories
• Building children’s speech, language and communication
• Safeguarding, equality and diversity, plus health and safety
• Supporting children’s personal, social and emotional development

• Professional development and career roles within childcare
• Supporting children’s emotional health and secure attachments
• Encouraging healthy lifestyles through food and nutrition, including spotting the benefits
• Understanding learning strategies and theories
• Building children’s speech, language and communication
• Safeguarding, equality and diversity, plus health and safety
• Supporting children’s personal, social and emotional development

• Be aged 19+ when your course begins
• Have lived in the UK for at least 3 years
• Have a National Insurance Number