When you picture an early year’s practitioner, what comes to mind?
Smiling faces? Endless enthusiasm? Staff covered in paint, lunch, and many other unknown substances?
All of these may be true — but behind every moment of joyful play, every reassuring hug and every beautifully planned activity lies a depth of professional skill, training and reflection that often goes unseen.
Early years practice is sometimes described as “just playing,” but in reality it is one of the most specialised and impactful areas of education.
Today, I’d like to take you behind the scenes and explore what being an early years practitioner really involves — and why the work we do is so much more than meets the eye.
For many of the Little Stars team, we hold a full and relevant qualification. Some of us have gone to college to achieve our Level 2 or Level 3 qualification, some have completed an apprenticeship within the setting and some of our staff have gone on to gain foundation degrees or full degrees.
Each of these qualifications takes time and commitment from the team, who often spend more time in the setting with the Little Stars family than with their own families or significant others. These qualifications don’t happen overnight — they often involve late nights during the week and take anywhere from six months upwards to complete.
But professional development doesn’t stop there. The government sets out an expectation for a certain number of staff to hold first aid qualifications. We pride ourselves on ensuring every staff member is trained in first aid, which, as a minimum, requires a 12-hour course. This means the team must give up at least one Saturday, plus some time during the evenings, to complete it. First aid training also has to be refreshed every three years.
For anyone working with the under-twos, at least half the team must have training and experience in caring for babies. Again, this type of training requires staff to give up their evenings to attend sessions and keep their knowledge up to date.
And this is just the mandatory training set out by the Department for Education. As a staffing team, we feel we go above and beyond to support children in a sector that is forever changing. Recently within the setting, staff have had opportunities to attend training around behaviour management, child development, and, most recently, we held a first aid course for some of our team.
So, next time you pass by a practitioner crouched at children’s eye level, kneeling on the floor, or joining in with imaginative play — pause for a moment.
Behind that moment is a wealth of expertise.
Behind that calm tone is training and intention.
Behind that smile is commitment, resilience and passion.
Early years practitioners don’t just care for children — they shape them.
They lay the foundations for learning, emotional wellbeing and self-belief that children carry with them into their future.
And that is hard work, meaningful work, and deeply skilled work.
Devon – Tiny Tots Room Leader
Little Stars Day Nursery 