PANCo training

The Physical Activity and Nutrition Coordinator (PANCo) is a named and qualified member of staff who leads on health and wellbeing and champions best practice within an early years setting. 

This is suitable for early years professionals, team leaders or managers working in early years settings such as nurseries, schools, childminding settings and after school clubs. Learners must hold at least a Level 3 Early Years / Childcare qualification and be over 18 years old to study this course.

The PANCo qualification gives early years educators a robust knowledge base about healthy eating and physical activity for children. The PANCo qualification and role of the PANCo is a beacon for quality provision in early years and has been designed as a well-being-in-action intervention that promotes positive nutrition and physical activity to support the prevention of obesity within early years settings. This holistic approach supports the well-being of children, families and early years staff teams through positive sustainable change by providing a framework of best practice. 

Yes, it is a nationally accredited and the only internationally recognised qualification that gives you full NCFE CACHE Level 4 Award: Promoting Health and Wellbeing through Physical Activity and Nutrition Co-ordination (PANCo) in the Early Years.

PANCos who qualify with NDNA also receive the Start Life Well Gold Award for their setting. 

This qualification is a good choice for you if you are looking to progress to become an Advanced Practitioner within the early years workforce. The Advanced Practitioner will use crucial leadership skills to mentor others across all roles and responsibilities in the early years workforce. 

Yes, we have developed the course so that it is flexible and adaptable from any device allowing you to work at your own speed, anywhere and in your own time with tutor support. 

Upon purchasing, the purchaser will immediately receive an order receipt and the learner will immediately receive communication direct from the Synap learner platform, please look out for these emails.

System Requirements 

You will need to have Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat Reader and a modern web browser such as Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or Internet Edge, in order to interact with the course. 

You can start the course at any time and you have 3 months to complete your studies. The course is based on 10 weeks of study with an expectation of about three hours per week study. An additional ten hours of workplace activities will be spread over this time. You then have two further weeks to access the course and to complete your portfolio.  

• The role of a PANCo involves applying knowledge and skills to lead and support change within the setting, liaising with external health and education professionals and providing advice and information for parents and carers
• PANCos will also be expected to demonstrate leadership and mentoring skills, work collaboratively with others to lead change and ensure best practice and national recommended guidelines are met
• The course is evidence-based and very practical. You can expect to be applying all that you learn directly into your practice
• The emphasis of the programme is to put knowledge into context, so you will complete a PANCo Project Portfolio which will document your own health and well-being intervention, designed specifically for the early years setting where you work. 

PANCos act as health and well-being mentors providing guidance, support and consistent evidence based messages to support children and families and staff to achieve the most positive health and well-being outcomes.  

As a qualified PANCo Pioneer you will learn how to: 

• Develop your skills and confidence to become an agent of change 
• Put physical activity and nutrition guidelines into practice
• Support parents and families with healthy eating and physical activity at home
• Analyse what will motivate and help people to make positive behaviour changes 
• Embed physical literacy throughout your setting 
• Develop children’s resilience and independence 
• Help your setting to meet and exceed inspection expectations around the health and well-being of children, families and your team. 
• Be a positive role model for healthy behaviours 
• Build a reputation for being a setting that cares about the health and well-being of its children, families and team 
• Support your team and parents to adopt active lifestyles. 

You can access further information on our dedicated PANCo resource page that provides access to a variety of support materials to help you to achieve and undertake this award and the PANCo role. Information includes: 

• research papers 
• case studies  
• podcasts and videos from experts in the field of early years and health and wellbeing 
•  further training is available on NDNA’s training page.

PANCo learners are able to connect and work collaboratively in the PANCo Well-being Network where they are able to share challenges and successes with like-minded colleagues who have a passion for fostering well-being in their early years setting.  

You will be invited to join the page where you can tell us a little more about yourself which will help us understand your own interests and priorities. 

• It’s free 
• Access to a national /international network of existing PANCos
• Access to continued professional development opportunities  
• Link to case studies and examples of good practice and new ideas 
• Regular updates, research, and news to support you in your PANCo role 

Yes, you can. The role is supported by the PANCo Quality Standards: Start Life Well. 

The Start life Well Standards provides PANCos, well-being leads and managers with nationally agreed evidence based standards for physical activity and nutrition in the early years. The standards offer an overview of the observable practices and outcomes that you would expect to see in an excellent setting.