Skills England Expert Network Welcomes Parenta’s Lisa Gooding

The Skills England Expert Network has invited Lisa Gooding, Parenta’s Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Manager, to join its growing community of sector specialists. The invitation recognises her work in shaping curriculum and end-point assessment (EPA) for Early Years apprenticeships and gives the sector a direct voice in how national standards are built.

What Is the Skills England Expert Network?

The Skills England Expert Network brings together employers, training providers, unions, regional partners and regulators from across the skills system. Instead of relying on formal consultation alone, Skills England convenes time-limited groups from the network to work on specific tasks. Occupational Groups develop or update occupational standards and assessment plans, while Insight Groups advise on sector, regional or cross-sector issues that shape wider decision-making. Almost 2,000 organisations have joined so far, and Skills England has said it wants that number to keep growing. That reach matters: it means the people writing policy can hear directly from the people delivering training on the ground, rather than working from theory alone. Anyone able to demonstrate expertise in an occupation, sector, technical education or regional skills needs can find out how to join the Skills England Expert Network on GOV.UK

Representing Early Years Curriculum and EPA

Lisa Gooding’s day-to-day role at Parenta puts her close to exactly the kind of detail Skills England wants more of. As Teaching, Learning & Curriculum Manager, she works with tutors, assessors and employers to make sure early years apprenticeship standards translate into real competence in nursery settings, not just paperwork that satisfies a syllabus.

That distinction matters more than it might sound. An apprenticeship standard written without input from people who deliver and assess it risks drifting away from what actually happens in a nursery room: managing ratios, supporting SEND children, or handling safeguarding concerns as they arise. Lisa’s seat in the Expert Network gives early years a voice in keeping standards grounded in that reality.

Curriculum Expertise Meets National Policy

Her involvement also reflects how Skills England works. Rather than treating providers as passive recipients of new standards, the network gives them a direct route to feed practical insight into standards that Skills England then drafts. As a result, changes to occupational standards or assessment plans are more likely to reflect what tutors and assessors see every day.

Lisa Gooding, Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Manager, Parenta commented:

“I’m delighted to have been invited to join Skills England’s Expert Network. The network brings together occupational, strategic, delivery and place-based experts from across the skills system, to help ensure policy and standards reflect what’s actually happening on the ground in workplaces. As Teaching, Learning & Curriculum Manager at a national training provider, I’m looking forward to representing the early years sector and bringing the realities of curriculum delivery and EPA into these conversations. I’m grateful for the opportunity and looking forward to contributing alongside other experts.”

How Occupational Groups and Insight Groups Work

Skills England splits its Expert Network activity into two main types of group, and it’s worth understanding the difference. Occupational Groups focus on the technical detail: updating occupational standards and assessment plans. Insight Groups take a wider view, feeding in perspectives on sector-wide, regional or cross-sector issues that affect several occupations at once.

Lisa’s background suggests her contribution will lean toward the Occupational Group side of that work, given her direct experience of building curriculum and linking it with EPA against early years standards for apprentices. Skills England convenes groups around specific tasks, which suggests contributors may be called on for different pieces of work over time rather than sitting in one fixed role, as priorities shift.

What This Means for Nurseries and Training Providers

For nursery owners, managers and fellow training providers, Gooding’s role in the Skills England Expert Network is a reassurance rather than an abstract policy update. It means someone with hands-on experience of early years curriculum and EPA is in the room when standards are reviewed, rather than reacting to change after it lands.

This comes at a time when apprenticeship funding rules, EYFS requirements and safeguarding guidance are all moving quickly for the sector. Having expert training and delivery professionals’ perspective embedded in national policy discussions gives early years providers a better chance of standards that reflect real workloads and real constraints, not just regulatory ambition.

Parenta has spent recent months tracking exactly this kind of change closely, from apprenticeship funding updates to revised EYFS and safeguarding requirements, so that nursery employers and apprentices aren’t caught off guard. Lisa’s appointment to the Skills England Expert Network adds another layer to that work: a direct line into the standards process itself, rather than only a response to it after publication.

A Growing Voice for Early Years in Policy

Early Years has not always had a loud voice in national skills policy conversations, despite employing a workforce that underpins childcare access across the country. For this reason, Lisa’s invitation to the Skills England Expert Network is a small but meaningful shift. It puts curriculum and assessment expertise from a specialist early years training provider directly in front of the people responsible for shaping standards.

As a result, Gooding’s appointment is worth watching beyond this single announcement. Skills England has said it wants the Expert Network to keep growing, which means more opportunities for Early Years voices to join the conversation over time. In the meantime, Parenta will continue to share updates on what the network’s work means for nurseries, apprentices and training providers as it develops.