Information on CCP Training

The Childcare Partnerships aim to develop and support quality play and learning environments within the early years sector to ensure quality play and learning experiences for children. Services within the early years sector include Out of School services, Childminders, Day Care, Playgroups and Crèches.

Having established training needs through provider consultation and by seeking the views of regional membership organisations, the Childcare Partnerships aim is to source cost effective, high quality training to meet these identified needs. This includes providing some support to providers to meet the Minimum Standards for Childminding and Day Care for Children Under Age 12 (DHSS&PS 2012) and also learning opportunities which support the continuous professional development of early years practitioners.

The Childcare Partnerships have developed an online system to profile the Regional Childcare Partnership Training Programme and allow practitioners to register for the learning opportunities available.

The five Childcare Partnerships plan and commission services on a regional basis and actively encourage providers and practitioners to apply for learning opportunities at locations most convenient for either work or home regardless of the location of the early years setting.

Due to demand, the Childcare Partnerships aim to make best use of the resources available. To ensure the maximum number of beneficiaries, to encourage new entrants to the sector and to address quality development, the Childcare Partnerships cannot fully meet multiple applications, for individual courses, from single providers.

We try to allocate places on training courses in an equitable and fair manner. This is not always on a first-come-first-served basis. As we identify priorities such as newly registered settings, new staff, matching training to the particular needs of the children in a setting, recommendations from the HSCT Early Years Teams, we are cannot always accommodate every application. Providers are encouraged to express interest in courses so we can assess demand for particular knowledge and skills across the sector; we also welcome direct feedback about practitioners’ learning needs.

Some core training has attached criteria and we would encourage all applicants to read the course description before applying. Unfortunately, the Childcare Partnerships are not funded to provide all core training to all staff; our role is to support settings in meeting identified gaps. We aim to allocate at least 2 places per setting on core training on a 3-yearly basis.

Achieving a place on a course brings with it particular requirements for practitioners and providers such as full completion of all parts of the course, punctuality and participation in evaluation.

As we are managing a limited resource, the Childcare Partnerships may withdraw future access to learning opportunities where a provider or practitioner fails to provide reasonable notice of non-attendance.