Target groups
The target groups for the training are practitioners working with children from birth to five, older children and young people including:
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practitioners in private, voluntary and independent settings
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teachers and teaching assistants in maintained schools
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SENCOs and others working with Foundation Stage children with
special educational needs in private, voluntary and independent
settings
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childminders
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playworkers
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all childcare practioners in Ofsted registered private, voluntary and
independent settings
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workers in Children’s Centres
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foster carers.
We will allocate places firstly to applicants who are in the target group for the course they are applying for and then to other applicants when appropriate.
Please do not turn up to training courses without first booking on to the course.
Guidelines for applying
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You can book on to courses by filling in the online application form.
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Please book early to avoid disappointment. Return the form to the appropriate administrator, listed with the course details.
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Put the correct postage on envelopes when posting applications. Put the date in your diary as a provisional booking.
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Confirmation of your place will be sent to you approximately four weeks before the event, together with a map showing the venue.
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If you have not received your confirmation letter or notification that the course is full at least a week before the course is due to take place please contact the course administrator shown on the course information page.
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Once your booking is confirmed please let us know immediately if you cannot attend.
Training records
Part of our work supporting your training involves us maintaining our database with up-to-date information for settings on what courses have been attended by staff.
In order for this information to be as accurate as possible we need you to inform us if you send another member of staff in the place of the person initially booked on.
This also helps us to ensure the correct staff member receives their certificate of attendance and supply cover (if applicable).
We will use our training database to monitor individual setting's staff attendance and non-attendance. If a particular setting is highlighted as having a staff member who has not attended training without notifying us they wish to cancel their place we will administer a non-attendance fee.
If you have a member of staff who has booked onto a course, or have booked onto one yourself please ensure that there are contingency plans in place to enable that person to be released from the setting.
If you can’t attend the training please inform us as we can sometimes offer your place to another on the waiting list. On cancellation you will be given a cancellation number for your records.
Invoices
You will be sent an invoice for payment from our central administration office and we will expect payment to be made within 28 working days. The £15.00 fee will cover the trainer, venue and any refreshment costs incurred. Please note that if you let us know in advance that a staff member is unable to attend you will be given a cancellation number for your records and not incur a charge.
Nottinghamshire County Council reserves the right to send an invoice for payment towards the cost of a course to settings or individuals who do not give sufficient notice of non-attendance for a substitute to attend the course on which they have been allocated a place.
KEEP – Key Elements of Effective Practice
KEEP is promoted as part of the government’s National Strategy for the Foundation Stage.
This emphasises the importance of focussed, continuous professional development for early years practitioners. Local Authorities and all early years practitioners are required to use KEEP to reflect on their work and develop their practice in relation to the KEEP elements.
Practitioners should use these when planning their training. (If you work in a private, voluntary or independent setting, you should discuss your training needs with your PVI Early Years Specialist Teacher.)
We will be using KEEP elements to analyse our training programme and then to address any gaps in provision.
This is an extract from the National Strategy KEEP 2005 publication [PDF].
