This won’t be an issue at all here at Busy Bees. We offer Functional Skills which is equivalent to a GCSE that is offered alongside your apprenticeship should you need it. Prior to your employment we will encourage you complete your initial assessments for your functional skills. This is so we can look at how best we as a training provider
support you in gaining a functional skill/s.

We have a team dedicated to providing support to help you develop your skills and knowledge based around the functional skill prior to your exam.

If you have no prior childcare experience you will start on an Early Years Practitioner Level 2 standard and this will take 15 months including End Point Assessment.

If you have a prior entry level childcare qualification you may start on the Early Years Educator Advanced Level 3 standard which will take 18 months Including End Point
Assessment.

End Point Assessment (EPA) is the finial assessment for an apprenticeship to ensure that you have met the relevant standards and criteria required.

Your Development Coach will fully prepare you for this and provide you with a mock assessment to complete in advance. This is nothing to be worried about it is purely a
way of looking at the knowledge, skills and behaviours that you have learned whilst completing your apprenticeship.

All qualifications received are highly recognised within the childcare industry helping you to take the next step in your childcare career whether that is working in a nursery or setting your own business supporting children in the community.

All apprenticeships will be delivered by Busy Bees Education and Training. If you are with another training provider currently you will have to inform us where possible so
we can make contact and discuss a transfer of learning.

You will be allocated a Development Coach who will be your port of call for the duration of your apprenticeship. You will have contact with your Development Coach
on a regular basis either face to face or remotely. All apprenticeship training will take place within the childcare setting in which you are employed. They will set you specific targets each month to complete, these can be in the form of:

• Written Account

• Observation (you will be observed doing your every day to day duties such as carrying out activities with the children)

• Witness Testimony (your development coach will speak to your senior team member about your conduct and what you have been doing in the nursery environment)

• Professional Discussion (Research a topic and discuss your findings with your development coach)

• Product Evidence (submit evidence of work that you have completed in the nursery such as the planning you may have created or an observation that you may have
carried out).

Your Development Coach will be available throughout your apprenticeship. They will be responsible for creating a bespoke learning journey specific to your individual
learning style. Your coach will be on hand to give you, support advice and guidance to enable you to meet the required standard. They will support your in developing your knowledge, skills and behaviours to become an outstanding childcare practitioner.

Your Development Coach will also be able to advise you and your centre director about relevant CPD courses, workshops, useful articles, VLA, policies etc which will support your growth and development.

There may be a time where you may need to attend one of our training venues which are located nationwide to complete a CPD course or First Aid which will be required to aid development. You will be given prior warning of any training that will take place.

The most important aspects of childcare are to offer a welcoming, stimulating and safe environment to enable children to learn grow and develop. You must be able to
think on your feet, be patient and enthusiastic but most importantly offer reassurance and security to all the children within our settings.

Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from any harm. Safeguarding means: protecting children from abuse and
maltreatment. preventing harm to children’s health or development. ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care.

Throughout your Busy Bee’s journey, you will be required to read the company safeguarding policy and to attend a short course session to enhance your knowledge
around this subject delivered by our CPD team.

The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) is used to set the standards for all children aged 0-5 years of age. This encompasses the learning, care and development
required to help children thrive and progress and they grow.

You will get to learn all about the EYFS from your senior member of the nursery team, through policies and CPD courses that we offer internally.

Equality and diversity is about recognising and celebrating everyone’s individuality. This can include adapting activities so it can be accessible to all and making sure everyone feels included and not discriminated against or left out.

Busy Bees have policies reinforce how Equality and Diversity is incorporated into the everyday practice with the Busy Bees Settings alongside, VLA training and CPD courses.

To reset your password, you can click the Forgotten Password link on the login page. Enter your email address into the Search by email address box below and then click Search. This will then send you an email with a reset link. If you can’t find the email, please check your spam folder. If you still don’t receive an email with a reset link please email bbvla@busybees.com.

At the bottom of the homepage you will see “My courses” which only shows the courses you are enrolled onto so if you can see a course here you can enter it.

To search for a course, type the name of the course you are looking for into the search box on the homepage. The search box works best when searching for just one word as it will display any courses relating to that word. The search box results will only show the courses you are enrolled onto. If you can’t find the course, you are looking for please email bbvla@busybees.com.

Once you have completed all activities on your course you will automatically obtain a badge for that course and you will have the option of downloading a certificate. You can do this by clicking on the certificate usually located at the bottom of the course.

To view all the badges, you have obtained you can either click on your name in the top right-hand corner and click Badges or you can click on the View my badges tile on the homepage. You will then be directed to another page where you will be able to see all the badges you have ever obtained on the VLA. You can bulk download them by clicking on the Download all button.

To view all your original certificates that you have already downloaded you will need to navigate to your profile. To do so click on your name in the top right and click View profile. You will then be taken to your profile where you will be able to click My certificates. There you can download your certificates one by one or you can download more information as an Excel spreadsheet.

We want to ensure we are always there for our customers which is why we have added a “help” button on every page on the VLA. It will always be located at the top of the page here which follows you if you scroll down. Once you have clicked on the help button, all you need to do is enter your email address, the subject of your issue or query, and then tell us what you would like help within the description. Alternatively, you can just email your issues or queries to bbvla@busybees.com.