The Level 5 Early Years Lead Practitioner (EYLP) Apprenticeship is ideal for proactive, influential practitioners, working directly with children. These highly skilled professionals take an operational lead for the care, learning and development of all young children within their care and lead and support the practice of others.
The Early Years Lead Practitioner programme will develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours of Early Years Practitioners to be proactive and influential, skilfully leading day-to-day practice at an operational level.
Course requirements
- Apprentices without Level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this level prior to taking their end point assessment.
- A British Sign Language (BSL) qualification is an alternative to the English qualification for those whose primary language is BSL
- K1: Ethical and rights-based approaches to support the child, listening to the child’s authentic voice within their social and cultural context enabling advocacy for the child and their individual journey, developing high quality childcare environments that are continuously evaluated.
- K2: How individual children learn and develop from conception to 8 years in relation to typical and a typical neurological, cognitive, social, emotional, behavioural, communication and physical development within the social, cultural context and the impact of this on their future.
- K3: Factors that have an impact upon health, well-being and early learning that can affect children from conception to 8 years. K4: Current and contemporary schools of thought to enable respectful and nurturing personal care.
- K5: Local and national child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures in practice, identifying when a child is at risk, and how to challenge in order to protect them. This includes understanding the role of the designated lead for safeguarding and assimilating findings of serious case reviews.
- K6: Theories of self-regulation, resilience and well-being and the impact of adverse early childhood experiences.
- K7: Current and emerging theories of attachment and how these relate to promoting relationships effectively such as the key person approach.
- K8: The importance of the social cultural context on the learning and development of the child and the influence parents, families and carers have within the home learning environment and the complexities.
- K9: The importance of play and the theoretical perspectives of play and its impact on a child’s learning and development.
- K10: How to stimulate children’s creativity and curiosity and why and how this enables enquiry based active learning.
- K11: A wide range of underpinning theories from physiological, neurological, developmental and education and how these can be incorporated to develop own pedagogy.
- K12: Current and contemporary approaches in the development of emergent literacy and numeracy skills such as synthetic phonics.
- K13: How planning cycles inform and improve practice and the principles of individual needs-based assessment for effective early intervention for all children responsive to typical and atypical needs and development.
- K14: Potential effects of transitions and schools of thought on how to successfully support children and their families.
- K15: The importance of enabling environments and the impact of opportunities, resources and relationships on learning and development.
- K16: How to promote inclusion, equality and diversity in the sector and why it is essential.
- K17: Current and contemporary theoretical perspectives and approaches to leadership and how to support others through leaderful practice.
- K18: Principles of reflection in influencing early years practice with a commitment to life-long learning including continual professional development and action research.
- K19: How to maintain accurate and coherent records and reports for the purpose of sharing information and communicate effectively in both oral and written English.
- K20: The current and relevant policy, statutory guidance and legal requirements as appropriate to the sector within; local, national, historical and global contexts.
- K21: Strategies to effect collaborative approaches to working with parents, professional bodies and multi agencies.
- S1: Analyse and articulate how all children’s individual learning can be affected by their current developmental capabilities, characteristics and individual circumstances taking into account all factors contributing to typical and atypical development.
- S2: Promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice.
- S3: Observe, assess, plan, facilitate and participate in play opportunities which include current curriculum requirements.
- S4: Ensure plans fully reflect the individual development needs and circumstances of children and actively participate in the provision of consistent care, responding quickly to the needs of the individual child.
- S5: Provide a dynamic, evolving and enabling environment that reflects the current interests, motivations, and play of individual and groups of children.
- S6: Encourage all children’s participation, ensuring a sensitive, respectful and effective balance within the adult and child dynamic to facilitate play opportunities.
- S7: Engage in effective strategies to develop and extend children's learning and thinking, including sustained shared thinking.
- S8: Support and promote children’s speech, language and communication development and determining and adapting appropriate responses and interventions.
- S9: Support children to engage in a range of learning contexts such as individual, small groups and larger groups as appropriate for their play and support confidence within social experiences.
- S10: Ensure staff are deployed effectively to suit and enhance the learning environment, prioritising the safety and wellbeing of all children.
- S11: Advocate for the child, cultivating professional partnerships with parents/carers and other professionals, presenting their understanding of the child’s journey within multidisciplinary teams to holistically support the child’s individual needs.
- S12: Demonstrate the importance of the home learning environment, developing an effective and collaborative partnership to enhance opportunities for the child.
- S13: Make use of formative and summative assessment, tracking children’s progress to plan for future learning possibilities including early interventions based on individual developmental needs.
- S14: Take responsibility for supporting the key person in articulating children's progress and planning future learning possibilities.
- S15: Use current and contemporary knowledge, research, theories and approaches to develop, enhance and articulate their own pedagogical approach and practice.
- S16: Use reflection to develop themselves both professionally and personally to enhance their practice.
- S17: Plan, carry out and guide appropriate physical care routines for individual children.
- S18: Promote, model and support children and families to develop a healthy approach to making choices relating to personal care including eating, sleeping and physical activity.
- S19: Develop, model and implement strategies to support the emotional, psychological, physical and cultural needs of all children within the setting.
- S20: Identify and act upon own responsibilities in relation to health and safety, prevention and control of infection, carrying out risk assessments and risk management processes in line with policies and procedures.
- S21: Ensure the security and confidentiality of data, records and information in line with current legislation.
- S22: Be a leaderful practitioner to support, mentor, coach, train and guide colleagues in a range of settings, providing inspiration and motivation to engage others to develop their practice.
- S23: Be confident to identify, action and competently challenge issues and undertake difficult conversations where appropriate.
- S24: Advocate for children through their child centred approach, listening to the voice of the child; ensuring children’s rights, views and wishes are heard, respected and acted upon at all times. Offer appropriate support and influence decisions in the best interests of the child.
- S25: Competently action and carry out safeguarding procedures, using their professional curiosity, knowledge, insight and understanding.
- S26: Explore and understand, challenge and question; knowing when to act to safeguard and protect children.
Assessment Methods
This is a knowledge based course with practical aspects that will need to be demonstrated.
End-Point Assessment
- Knowledge test
- Professional discussion underpinned by a portfolio
Progression Routes
Upon the successful completion of this apprenticeship, please speak to our curriculum team for further progression options.
