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home Education and early years
Early years educator

Early years educator

Education and early years

Level 3 - Technical Occupation

Highly trained professionals who play a key role in ensuring that young children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe.

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Reference: OCC0135

Status: assignment_turned_inApproved occupation

Average (median) salary: £18,429 per year

SOC 2020 code: 3232 Early education and childcare practitioners

SOC 2020 sub unit groups:

  • 3232/00 Early education and childcare practitioners

Technical Education Products

ST0135:

Early years educator

(Level 3)

Approved for delivery
  • Career Starter Apprenticeship

TL0008a:

Education and early years - Early years educator

(Level 3)

Employers involved in creating the standard:

Busy Bees, Kids Planet, EY Alliance, National Day Nurseries Association, Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years, Our Monkey Club, N Family Club, NCFE, TQUK, Caldecote Day Nursery, Snapdragons Nursery, The Scraptoft Day Nursery, Pen Green Children's Centre, Best Practice Network, Leicestershire County Council, Gloucestershire County Council

Summary

This occupation is found in a range of maintained and private, voluntary, and independent settings such as full day care, children's centres, pre-schools, reception classes, playgroups, nursery schools, home based provision, hospitals, social care settings, out of school environments, and local authority provision.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to provide high quality early education and care to children. Through an evidence based approach, they provide opportunities and learning experiences for all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Early years educators follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) requirements set by government for the learning, development, and care of children from birth to 5 in both indoor and outdoor environments.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with children, parents, carers, colleagues, and wider multi agency professionals such as health visitors, early help services, social workers, and speech and language therapists. This includes supporting children with SEND.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for ensuring a safe and secure environment for children's learning. They ensure that the learning environment and provision is inclusive and supports all children, and demonstrate a clear understand of equality, diversity, and inclusion. Early years educator's teach and facilitate children's learning play. They apply the observation, assessment, and planning cycle to support progress and children's development. An early years educator will act as the key person for one or more children within their setting. They may play a leadership role within the setting or may act under the supervision of a manager.

Employers involved in creating the standard:

Busy Bees, Kids Planet, EY Alliance, National Day Nurseries Association, Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years, Our Monkey Club, N Family Club, NCFE, TQUK, Caldecote Day Nursery, Snapdragons Nursery, The Scraptoft Day Nursery, Pen Green Children's Centre, Best Practice Network, Leicestershire County Council, Gloucestershire County Council

Typical job titles include:

Childminder assistant
Early years educator
Early years worker
Nursery educator
Nursery nurse
Nursery worker

Keywords:

Early Years
Early Years Educator
Education
Learning
Teaching

Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)

K1: The importance of equality, diversity, and inclusion, and respecting children’s social and cultural context.
K2: Safeguarding policies and procedures for children and colleagues, including child protection and wellbeing.
K3: Types of abuse including domestic, neglect, physical, emotional and sexual, and know how to act to protect children and colleagues.
K4: The legal requirements and guidance on health and safety, security, confidentiality of information, and safeguarding.
K5: The principles of risk assessment and management, and how to balance risks and benefits of activities for children.
K6: The statutory and non-statutory frameworks and guidance for provision in early years including SEND.
K7: The legal rights of each individual child according to their current and future needs.
K8: The role of colleagues and multi-agency working to support the child.
K9: The role and responsibilities of the early years educator, including providing supervision to staff.
K10: The role and responsibilities of the key person.
K11: Theories and significance of attachment.
K12: The importance of professional relationships and collaboration with parents, families, or carers.
K13: The importance of professional relationships with colleagues, other organisations, and agencies.
K14: The influence of all key individuals in children's lives on children's learning and development.
K15: The development of social skills and maintaining relationships.
K16: How children learn and develop from conception to age 7; physiologically, neurologically, biologically, psychologically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially. Including the interaction and impact of biological and environmental factors.
K17: The elements and characteristics of a wide range of enabling environments.
K18: How the design, resourcing, and use of the indoor and outdoor physical environment supports children’s learning and development.
K19: How the design of the day and expectations adapts to support and reflect all children’s current needs (for example, those children with SEND, EAL, communication difficulties, and the most able).
K20: How the organisations approach and values underpin the environment.
K21: How children experience change, transition, and significant events.
K22: The theories of play and its fundamental role in learning and development.
K23: How children develop characteristics for effective learning.
K24: How, when, and why to conduct observation and assessment.
K25: How the observation, assessment, and planning cycle is used to analyse and respond to children’s learning, development, and interests.
K26: How to create experiences and opportunities for children informed by the setting's curriculum and pedagogy.
K27: Methods of reflective practice, including supervision, and opportunities for continuous professional development.

S1: Recognise when a child or a colleague is in danger or at risk of abuse and act to protect them in line with safeguarding policy and procedure.
S2: Apply legislation, policy and procedure to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of children in the setting (for example, food safety, diets, starting solid food, allergies, COSHH, and accidents, injuries, and emergencies).
S3: Apply the principles of risk assessment and risk management within documentation and practice.
S4: Teach children to develop skills to manage risk and maintain their own and others safety.
S5: Use a range of communication methods, including technology, with other professionals to meet the individual needs of the child.
S6: Develop and maintain effective professional, collaborative relationships with others involved in the education and care of the child.
S7: Undertake the role and responsibilities of key person.
S8: Recognise and apply theories of attachment to develop effective relationships with children.
S9: Provide sensitive and respectful personal care for children from birth to 5 years.
S10: Advocate for all children’s needs, including children which require SEND or EAL support.
S11: Promote and facilitate children’s interpersonal communication to develop their social interactions and relationships.
S12: Support children to develop a positive sense of their own identity and culture.
S13: Support children to understand and respond to their emotions and make considered choices about their behaviours.
S14: Assess the responsiveness of the environment for effective child-centred experiences in line with curriculum requirements.
S15: Create inclusive, child-centred, dynamic, innovative, and evolving physical environments both indoors and outdoors.
S16: Create inclusive and supportive emotional environment that enables the child to feel safe, secure, respected and experience a sense of wellbeing; maintaining and prioritising the individual child’s voice.
S17: Apply strategies that support children’s ability to manage change, transition, and significant events.
S18: Analyse observation evidence to assess and plan holistic individual learning based on a comprehensive understanding of the child’s needs and interests.
S19: Facilitate and support child-centred opportunities and experiences based on the setting's curriculum and pedagogy.
S20: Provide adult led opportunities and experience based on the setting's curriculum and pedagogy.
S21: Use reflection to develop themselves both professionally and personally.

B1: Confident to have difficult conversations.
B2: Child-centred and empathetic, valuing equality, diversity, and inclusion and the uniqueness of each child.
B3: Vigilant and act with professional curiosity.
B4: Caring, compassionate and sensitive.
B5: Honest, open, respectful, and a role model.
B6: Self-motivated, using initiative and proactive.
B7: Playful and creative.
B8: Reflective and reflexive and committed to CPD.

Duties

Duty D1

Support children's learning and development through applying knowledge of pedagogy and the observation, assessment, and planning cycle.

Duty D2

Develop secure and supportive relationships with children and families as the key person for children in their care, advocating for those children.

Duty D3

Provide respectful and responsive physical and emotional care to children, promoting health and wellbeing.

Duty D4

Work with key individuals in children’s lives (for example parents, families, and carers) to improve all children’s outcomes and wellbeing.

Duty D5

Work in partnership with other organisations and agencies to support children’s learning, development, health and wellbeing.

Duty D6

Support the implementation of change to improve practice.

Duty D7

Initiate and engage in continuous professional development, underpinned by reflective practice.

Duty D8

Ensure compliance with child protection and safeguarding legislation, policies, and procedures.

Duty D9

Work in ways that promote and support equality, diversity, and the inclusion of all children, respecting their social and cultural context.

Duty D10

Ensure compliance with Health and Safety legislation, policies, and procedures.

Duty D11

Use technology to record and update information for example observations, assessments, reports, risk assessments, and safeguarding concerns.

Duty D12

Promote and engage in children’s play. Support all children to create and adapt the environment to reflect their interests and enable their learning and development.

Duty D13

Ensure legal requirements of statutory frameworks are met within policy, procedure, and practice.

Occupational Progression

This occupational progression map shows technical occupations that have transferable knowledge and skills.

In this map, the focused occupation is highlighted in yellow. The arrows indicate where transferable knowledge and skills exist between two occupations. This map shows some of the strongest progression links between the focused occupation and other occupations.

It is anticipated that individuals would be required to undertake further learning or training to progress to and from occupations. To find out more about an occupation featured in the progression map, including the learning options available, click the occupation.

Progression decisions have been reached by comparing the knowledge and skills statements between occupational standards, combined with individualised learner movement data.

Technical Occupations

Levels 2-3

Higher Technical Occupations

Levels 4-5

Professional Occupations

Levels 6-7

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Level 5

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Level 5

Education and early years

Health and science