Abstract
Research has shown that the quality of early years provisions is directly linked to the quality of leadership and management of early years settings. The extant research also shows that the quality of preschool settings are almost always characterised by strong leadership, where leaders and practitioners share a clear vision of the setting's practices. This paper presents the key findings of a national evaluation of early years leadership across a range of children centres in England. The focus of the study is to explore children's centre leaders' perceptions of leadership, and the impact of their professional qualification -°©- the National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL) -°©- on their professional practice. Introduced by the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services in 2005, the NPQICL was developed to support the professional needs of children's centre leaders, especially in the role they play in meeting the Every Child Matters (2003) outcomes for all young children. The findings reveal that integrated and multi-agency working, reflective learning and practice, as well as professional status and pay, are key factors that can significantly influence the role of children's centre leaders and which in turn has a direct impact on their professional practice.
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