Further acclaim for Pre-school Learning Alliance’s training and quality assurance services

NEWS RELEASE

5 January 2007

Further acclaim for Pre-school Learning Alliance’s training and quality assurance services

The Training and Quality Assurance division of the Pre-school Learning Alliance is celebrating the news that its services have been acclaimed by accreditation body CACHE, Council for Awards in Children’s Care and Education, and by emskills a best practice benchmark developed by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the East Midlands Development Agency (EDMA).

Alliance staff providing training and quality assurance advice in the Midlands region successfully achieved the emskills quality mark — making the Alliance one of the first providers in the country to receive such an accolade. The forerunner to the National Quality Mark due to be introduced in April, the emskills benchmark recognises the quality of the Alliance’s training courses and how well they respond to the workforce development needs of local early years employers.

Further praise was received by the Alliance’s Examination Centre following a visit by CACHE. This was the first inspection visit to the Centre and CACHE’s main findings were that the service provided and the systems in place were exemplary. The Exam Centre supports 3,000 early years professionals and parents every year taking exams in over 30 core early years subject areas at a range of levels – from pre-entry to level 4.

Michael Freeston, Pre-school Learning Alliance’s Director of Training and Quality Assurance said

‘This excellent news is a tribute to the hard work and commitment of all those staff involved and reinforces the Alliance’s reputation as “one of the best training providers in England”¹. These achievements are also particularly timely. They demonstrate that the Alliance is well-placed to respond to employers’ needs – an emphasis of the recent Leitch Review of Skills Training. Furthermore, they are testament to the Alliance’s commitment to ensuring that the early years workforce has access to best practice services and highest quality resources.’

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Kate Summerside
Pre-school Learning Alliance
T: 020 7697 2502
Out of hours press calls: 07956 499621
E: Kate Summerside

Notes for Editors:

The Pre-school Learning Alliance links 15,000 pre-schools and 800,000 young children and their families in England. Established in 1961 and registered as an educational charity, the Alliance is involved in more Sure Start projects than any other organisation and operates a number of Neighbourhood Nurseries. For information about the Pre-school Learning Alliance, visit our website: www.pre-school.org.uk
¹ The Chief Inspector for Adult Learning 2003–4
The emskills project, has been operational in the East Midlands for eighteen months. It has developed a self assessment and quality improvement model, with external validation by City and Guilds, applicable to provision of training for employers. Jointly funded by the LSC and East Midlands Development Agency, the project's aim is to determine agreed best practice benchmarks to support the development of a regional brand that employers recognise as being a standard for excellent provision in employer engagement