Nursery World - Outdoor CPD: Part 10

Networks through which practitioners share their experiences and knowledge with others can give training and learning a practical dimension, finds Gabriella Jozwiak

Learning about the world at Ark Start Oval in East Croydon, south London

Making use of online or real-life professional networks can change early years training courses from an experience that is quietly forgotten to one that really impacts outcomes for children.

This is according to early childhood consultant Kathryn Peckham, who teaches a ‘learning outdoors in early years’ module on the Centre for Research in Early Childhood’s MA in Education (Early Years) course. She says practitioners should choose training courses that enable them to forge links with fellow students who will encourage, inspire and inform each other in the future.

‘When you’re in a network with people who have done the training course you did, you see what they’re achieving,’ she says. ‘It’s those kinds of conversations and sharing that really progresses practice.’ In former roles as a nursery manager, Ms Peckham recalls her staff would return from continuous professional development (CPD) courses full of inspiration, but later ‘nothing would really come of it’.

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