New skills for children’s workers

The children’s workforce strategy is likely to contain a common
core of six competences that all children’s services workers will
have to meet.

Speaking at a child care workforce conference early in March,
children’s minister Margaret Hodge said that the competences would
cover areas such as working together, understanding child
development and how to share information.

“We are developing a common core of skills and knowledge that we
want everybody in the children’s workforce to have over time,” she
said.

It is expected that the other competency areas will be
supporting transitions and effective communications and engagement
with children, young people and families.

Hodge went onto hint that the strategy would also look at
increasing the numbers of graduates working in child care.