PANCo
by Karen Burns
Have you heard of a PANCo?
PANCo stands for Physical Activity and Nutrition Co-ordinator. It is a new role that is being created
within the Early Years Sector in response to the growing problem of childhood obesity and the
increasingly sedentary lifestyles which children lead. It has been developed from a pilot project by
the Cambridge Childhood Partnership.
The aim of creating the role of PANCo within a setting is:
• To put child wellbeing at the centre of practice by developing this specialist role within every early
years setting.
• To build practitioner skills and confidence to undertake this role by providing training support and
continuous professional development.
• To support the well-being of children, families and staff by developing a framework and knowledge
base using current research and national guidelines.
In essence, the PANCo in a setting will be responsible for promoting and supporting physical activity
and sound nutrition within the setting. They will implement change within the setting to ensure best
practice in these areas and will support other practitioners and parents to make healthy choices with
regard to nutrition and physical activity.
The new NCFE CACHE Level 4 Certificate for the Early Years Practitioner has a unit devoted to the role
of the PANCo. It will be possible to either do the entire Level 4 or attend specific units to achieve this
Level 4 unit certification.
If you are interested in either the entire NCFE CACHE Level 4 Certificate for the Early Years Practitioner
or in only the individual level 4 Unit certification for the PANCo unit contact [email protected] for
further details.