NDNA launched its e-learning Early Years Development Zone in April with a suite of management courses spanning Safer Recruitment, Managing Time Effectively and Marketing and Sales. This has now been broadened with three new courses, to support birth to twos, two-year-olds and threeto five-year-olds respectively, under the revised EYFS.
Feedback for the NDNA's online programmes has so far been positive and it hopes that momentum will grow as its portfolio expands. Developed in-house by the organisation's own training experts, the courses are designed to meet demand for inexpensive and flexible learning.
Stella Ziolkowski, director of workforce and quality, says, 'The latest courses are designed to enable individuals to implement learning into work situations, grasp a full understanding of the new terminology within the EYFS and fully respond to age ranges within each course area.'
Each course packs a lot into its three hours but allows the learner to progress at a pace which suits them. Content is structured around an underpinning knowledge of child development and how this translates to practice.
Video clips and interactive activities form part of the online approach and there is an option to listen to, rather than read, the text, which is useful for those whose first language may not be English.
Because the courses cover a fair amount of ground, it is important that managers reinforce the information with staff. At Kidsgrove Nursery in Mansfield, manager Diane Wise has completed two of the three EYFS courses she has bought and feels all her staff will benefit from completing them.
She says, 'We are a small nursery and it is not practically possible for us to have staff members attending courses outside the setting. With an online option we can have them up on screen and dip in and out of them when we have an opportunity during the day.'
On completion of the course learners receive a certificate and can claim three CPD hours towards their professional development.