Connect Connect October 2017 - January 2018 | Page 37

Ayrshire College’s ongoing
Early Years campaign, ‘Build
a brighter future – Start
your Early Years career
here’, supports the Scottish
Government 2020 campaign,
promoting a substantial
increase in job opportunities
within the sector.
Building a brighter future for
Scotland’s children is exactly
the reason most people go to
work in the Early Years sector.
Colleges have a fantastic
opportunity to prepare a
professionally developed,
flexible workforce that will
build resilience and creativity
into the lives of young children.
The campaign aims to
inspire potential students,
empowering them to make
a difference in children’s lives
and, in turn, make a difference
to their own. To ensure that
we recruit the right students,
the interview process for Early
Learning and Childcare courses
seeks a balance of skills
and qualities.
Across Scotland there are
predicted to be 11,000
practitioner job roles directly
created by 2020 in early
learning and childcare. Many
local authorities have already
started a phased recruitment
programme to attract new
people into the workforce.
Qualified and experienced staff
also have access to promoted
positions within the expansion.
The new services will require
greater numbers of managers
along with a number of
graduate positions.
External partnerships that
are formed with employers,
providing valuable information
on workforce planning and
training requirements, is vital.
This will help to ensure high
quality provision.
Fundamental to the success
of the expansion, is tailoring
training and qualifications to
meet the needs of employers.
We consult local employers
about how the work placement
experience can be improved
and recently we developed
a standardised induction
process in partnership with
local providers in the sector.
College staff gain their CPD
through placement visits and
events, and investing in these
relationships improves the
overall student experience.
This is an energising time
for the sector. High quality
provision is at the heart of
the training at the College,
providing flexibility and
accessibility for student