"We are really keen on close partnership work with the College, it’s beneficial to everyone."

“345 Preschools has been running for 40 years. We have 18 staff altogether, full- and part-time and we cater for children aged two and a half to four years.

We are training four staff currently and it will be five next year. We’re trying to encourage staff to take ongoing training. We want to look at how they can do NVQ Level 2 in Early Years and some will do NVQ Level 3.

The staff can select which training route they prefer, depending on location, times and provision. One member of staff is doing distance learning.

We have a good relationship with Bev Johnson, the College's Head of Early Years. We would like to take a student placement in each setting starting in September. We see it as a way of enhancing our setting. Trainees bring in ideas and encourage our staff to train up to a higher level.

We are very keen on the relationship because training and development are critical to any environment, whether it is a business or in the voluntary sector, we are here to help the community. The more learning individuals do, like short courses, it will lead to discussions and in turn improve the work we do here for the children.

People are becoming more open to ideas about training. Sometimes staff are a bit resistant, we are trying to break down the resistance. We are really keen on close partnership work with the College, it’s beneficial to everyone.”