Early Years Professional Development Programme Phase 3

The purpose of this Contracts Finder Opportunity Notice is to notify the market of the live Early Years Professional Development Programme 3 procurement opportunity relating to the Department for Education's Early Years Recovery Programme.

The Department for Education is seeking to engage a provider to deliver the third phase of the Early Years Professional Development Programme (PDP3). PDP3 will build on two earlier phases of the programme (PDP1 and PDP2).

The objective of PDP3, a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme, is to equip Early Years Practitioners (EYPs) with the skills they need to provide high quality support for early years children (age 2 - 4). This programme will have a particular emphasis on communication and language, maths, and Personal, social and emotional development (PSED). The overall aim is to ensure EYPs have the skills they need to support children to catch up when they are in settings and are able to refer them to the right services if required. The aim is at least 8,000 EYPs (with an optimum target of 10,000) trained by 31 March 2025.

The Department aims to cover all 152 Local Education Authorities nationally (England) under the PDP3 programme, with particular need to reaching Settings with high levels of disadvantaged children whose learning has been most affected by COVID-19.

History of PDP 1 and 2 for information only:

The first phase, 'PDP 1', was rolled out to 50 Local Authorities (LAs) in 2019. Training here focused on early language and mathematics and utilised a cascade model to train champions who then embedded their learning in settings. Training was initially delivered face to face, but was pivoted to online provision following the COVID-19 pandemic.

PDP was extended to 51 additional LAs across England in the 2021 to 2022 academic year under 'PDP 2'. As well as early language and mathematics, PDP 2 included content on personal, social and emotional development (PSED) for 2 to 4-year-olds in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that children's mental health and wellbeing is prioritised. The training also included a focus on staff wellbeing. PDP 2 was delivered online directly to practitioners, rather than using a cascade model. PDP 1 and 2 end in July 2022.

https://education.app.jaggaer.com