A survey of 1,000 parents of under- fives by the Children's WorkforceDevelopment Council found that 24 per cent of them had heard of EYPStatus, while 21 per cent had heard of it and were using childcare.
Awareness was lowest, at 3 per cent, among the group of parents who hada child not in childcare but expected to send them to nursery in thenext two years. Of those who knew about EYPS, 69 per cent said theywould prefer their child to attend a setting with an EYP.
Thom Crabbe, national development manager for early years, said, 'Wewanted to see what level of awareness there was among parents at thisstage and to see how they respond to the general principles of EYPS.' Hesaid follow-up work on parental awareness would be done as the number ofEYPs increases.
Mr Crabbe confirmed the CWDC would be piloting two more routes to EYPSfrom September, with a small number of training providers integratingthe status within a foundation degree course or early childhood studiesdegree.