National win for Early Years Professionals Network
04 Oct 2019 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
The Northumberland Early Years Professionals Network has won a national Nursery World award - for excellent practice in team development.
The network is led by Northumberland County Council’s Early Year’s Team in partnership with Northumbria University Newcastle’s Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing.
The annual Nursery World awards shine a light on best practice in early years education and childcare from across the UK, with the team development award celebrating those who have built a high-quality staff team through good practice in recruitment and retention, training and career development.
Winners were announced last week at an awards ceremony at The Brewery in London.
The Northumberland network forms a community of practice which has grown since its inception two years ago.
During this time it has supported strong partnership working and staff recruitment, especially promoting men in early years and childcare. It has included a variety of training and professional development opportunities including beach school, inclusive practice, the learning environment and health and wellbeing for practitioners and children.
The network promotes best practice in early years across the county, with all of its activity aimed at promoting the best outcomes for children.
Theresa Iley from the Northumberland Early Years Team said: “The annual Nursery World Awards is one of the most prestigious events in the early years sector.
“To be rewarded and recognised nationally for the dedication and commitment to improve quality and best outcomes for young children in Northumberland is such an immense honour and privilege.”
Kay Heslop, a senior lecturer from Northumbria University, added: “It was an honour to win such a prestigious early years award, and fabulous that our partnership working has been recognised.
“The Early Years Professional Network in Northumberland, in partnership with Northumbria University, is an example of good practice in the sector and it is hoped that we can continue to grow, learn, engage in research and write about our experiences in order to support children, families and practitioners.”
Councillor Wayne Daley, cabinet member for children’s services at Northumberland County Council said: “This is an absolutely fantastic result for a brilliant team - and a fitting endorsement of the excellent work that they are doing to improve early years provision here in Northumberland.
“The team provides excellent support to early years practitioners through training and development of best practice - which all contributes to the high quality of services across our county.”