Stars for University’s Early Year Professionals

The University of Northampton held a special awards ceremony earlier this month for its students in front of key partners working in the field of Early Years.

The 20 June evening occasion welcomed over 100 staff and representatives of nurseries, preschools and other early years settings from across the East Midlands, in a celebration of best practice.

Some 40 students from the University's School of Education were presented with 'star' trophies by Vice Chancellor, Professor Nick Petford, in recognition of having gained Early Years Professional Status - described by the Children's Workforce Development Council as the 'gold standard' for early years practice.

This is the third year in which we have run our Partnership evenings, bringing together students and many of the employers who support them through day-release or who provide vital work placements.

We were very lucky on this occasion to have Liz Magraw, a leading Early Years consultant, to present our keynote speech on outdoor play.

Professor in Early Years, Denise Hevey

Having recently been graded as an 'outstanding provider' for Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) to add to its Grade 1 outstanding Ofsted rating for teacher training, the School of Education is looking forward to another highly successful and challenging year. More than 120 additional students are due to be awarded EYPS by December 2011 and 160 new undergraduates are expected to enrol on the first year of their early years studies from September.

National and local research is starting to show that Early Years Professionals are improving practice and raising standards in early years' settings.

This is why we are here. We know our students rate our courses highly but the bottom line is, can they make a real difference to children and families, particularly in the most disadvantaged areas? The answer coming from research is that they can.

Professor Denise Hevey

Photograph: Some of the students from the University's School of Education with their awards in recognition of having gained Early Years Professional Status.