My name is Ashley Cupples and I am one of the Early Years Pedagogues within Falkirk. Since beginning this role in August 2018 myself and my team have been privileged to receive so many wonderful training and continuous professional learning opportunities.

At present I am currently enrolled and actively undertaking The Early Years Leadership Professional Learning Course which is supported by the Professional Learning Office of the Moray School House of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh.

This bespoke programme was created for myself, and my team of Early Years Pedagogues and Principal Early Years Officer colleagues and it was designed with our learning interests in mind.  The main aim of the course is to help develop our leadership skills and confidence as leaders.

Each week we are asked to:

• Reflect on our practice, strengths and aspects for development and decide if there is any action we would like to take.
• Be active and present in the cohort group in whole discussions as well as participating in break out room discussions.
• Consider both the opportunities and challenges your role as a leader bring.
• Use a Learning Journal to capture current and developing thinking.

‘Being a reflective practitioner means having the ability to think analytically about your own professional practice, to think about what is happening and why it is happening, to consider how things could be done differently, to support best practice’ – Davis, G and Ryder, G. 2016:127

Due to the recent global pandemic all our sessions are conducted virtually which I think has just become the norm to us all now! I look forward to the day we can all be together again in the one room for CLPL opportunities….but for now I will keep dreaming.

We began undertaking this course in June 2021 and are due to complete it in November 2021. Weirdly, while being enrolled in any other academic study I have always been on the countdown until completion but with this one it is quite the opposite. I think I will be rather sad when the course is finished.

 

So why is the Early Years Leadership Programme any different?

Well here is my three honest reasons:

1. I truly value the fact that we have been allocated time to do this within our working time as it eases the professional reading workload that we are expected to engage in after the session. I spend a few hours per week in the evening accessing the thought-provoking materials to challenge and support my thinking. – This I quite enjoy!
2. I feel it has allowed “protected time” for our cohort of Early Years Pedagogues and Principal Early Years Officer colleagues to network. Without this course we most certainly would not have created this platform.
3. Last but certainly not least, the tutors have been amazing. They each have considerable experience of working in early years and Primary sectors and have a huge array of wealth and knowledge, in learning and teaching, publication and leadership. Juliet Hancock, Peter McNaughton, Joanna Findlay, Mary Pat McConnell, Lorna Willows and Fiona Smyth – Thank you. It can be really difficult to engage people virtually and encourage participation, but you all make it look easy!