Independent Review of Early Learning and Childcare Workforce and Out of School Care Workforce: Response from Early Education Early Education (the

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1 Independent Review of Early Learning and Childcare Workforce and Out of School Care Workforce: Response from Early Education Early Education (the British Association for Early Childhood Education) is a charity promoting high quality early childhood education across the UK. We are a membership body for early years settings and practitioners and provide a range of professional development opportunities, publications and resources. We have four local volunteer-run branches in Scotland (Aberdeen, Borders, Dumfries, Edinburgh). 1. What are the key, critical skills, knowledge and experience necessary to achieve high quality learning and care in early years and out of school care? The young people of Scotland need to be equipped for life and work in the future. Learning is lifelong and the skills children learn in today s world have to be transferable. Early years experiences have to provide varied opportunities to develop enquiring minds. In order to promote appropriate learning adults must concentrate on developing a rich environment which is conducive to the process of learning rather than products or outcomes. Training, initial and CPD, has to put a stronger emphasis on a thorough understanding of child development and how children learn. It is vitally important that teachers and early years practitioners are skilled in the use of a variety of contextualised teaching strategies. How children access contextualised learning requires a need for skilled teachers and practitioners taking on a more facilitative role, encouraging sustained shared thinking and planning tasks, activities and events which involve experiential and active playbased learning, both indoors and outdoors. The key, critical skills include a good basic education and good level of literacy and numeracy skills; an empathy with children, emotional literacy and the ability to see every child as an individual; recognition of children s rights; motivation and passion for working with children. Practitioners also need observation skills. the ability to reflect and understand what they have observed and then to carefully take children forward in their development. In terms of knowledge, first and foremost practitioners need an understanding of child development. They also need to have knowledge of attachment; how different children learn, including an understanding of the way children learn through carefully planned play, supported by a sensitive adult; and broad understanding of curriculum. The Principles of the Curriculum, if fully understood, are invaluable in terms of knowledge and practice within the early years workforce. These are as follows: challenge and enjoyment breadth progression depth personalisation and choice coherence relevance

2 2. How best to support staff who are undertaking different levels of qualifications including the higher level qualifications such as teacher training, early years specialism, and the BA Childhood Practice Award or similar? For staff, there needs to be: study time given to those who are training and working full time we recommend half a day a week. This time needs to be funded. Extra staff may need to be made available in order for cover to be provided regularly recognition of the personal time given to studying at this level time made available for experienced staff to mentor and support those studying time for visits to centres of excellence For courses, there need to be: common aims. high quality courses and trainers for SVQs flexible and innovative methods of delivery. quality requirements for nurseries to take trainees placements with excellent role models longer placements in nursery for trainee teachers There also needs to be more comprehensive, timely and relevant, setting and local authority based training and development to ensure that the early learning needs of every child and their family are the focus. Staff should be supported to deliver the highest quality and most effective early education experiences possible. 3. How to provide opportunities for training and up-skilling the teaching workforce in specific early years pedagogy to help improve the delivery of quality experiences for children? Account must be taken of the fact that the workforce includes a diminishing number of teachers, linked to the cost of teachers and the Scottish Government devolving responsibility for deciding whether children have teacher contact time to local authorities, as well as possibly because the 600 hours no longer fits with teacher contracts. There needs to be clarity that the schools workforce teachers, nursery nurses and classroom assistants is part of the early years workforce. This means two things first that career progression across boundaries ought to be straightforward and encouraged; and second that those working in schools have the same opportunities to practise joint working and collaboration to support the interests of the child as in any other part of the workforce, both through sharing elements of training, and through clear and unambiguous messages from Scottish Government that schools are part of the same agenda. Careful consideration needs to be given to the career pathways to provide reassurance that the depth of knowledge and specific skills currently brought by each profession are not lost by facilitating the progress of the workforce across different sectors. Currently, teaching students receive some early years development during their initial university course. This is somewhat limited and in no way prepares them for

3 working with very young children and their families. The role of the university in providing a quality early years experience for its students is key here. Teaching staff need to be trained in early years pedagogy and the roles and contributions of other practitioners need to be clearly defined. Early years specialism needs to be developed in teaching courses. In Aberdeen, they are currently trialling BA and BEd working alongside each other. Current opportunities for upskilling and training of the teaching workforce include courses such as The Froebel Course provided at Edinburgh University, good local authority provided CPD programmes, cluster networks, shadowing other staff and visiting other settings, Early Education branch meetings, The Early Years Blogprovided by City of Edinburgh, Social media such as Edinburgh Tweet and comment, Education Scotland online resources. Opportunities for training and development need to cover key issues such as: Birth to Three A Curriculum for Excellence adult/child ratios indoor/outdoor space play strategy active learning transitions 4. How to up-skill the whole workforce in early childhood pedagogy through relevant continuing professional development to help in the delivery of quality experiences for children? The issues for the whole workforce are similar to those raised in 3. above. The current situation in the early years is that there is a diverse range of organisations who all work independently of each other. Despite signs of progress, there are a number of fundamental questions about reward, supply of qualified staff, career structure and progression between private, public and voluntary sectors, job design and responsibilities etc that still needs to be addressed. There is a strong case for a further work between the Scottish Government, local government and the early years sector to review this. There should be parity in childcare/education degree level courses and career routes. There also needs to be high quality CPD through local authorities to share evidenced-based research and innovative initiatives relevant to all nursery and early level staff. There are access issues sometimes, so it is important that staff receive CPD information and have time to check s. Leadership is very important in creating a learning ethos for all staff. It is also necessary for in-service days to be relevant and tailored to the training needs of early years staff. Learning and staff development should be seen as on-going, part of the ethos of early years work. The shift of emphasis from service-led to child and family-led services requires training and support for staff. Staff may also be required to work in a wider range of settings and as part of a multi-disciplinary team. Strong support and professional supervision is needed to ensure that staff can integrate with a team but maintain

4 their own professional standards. Multi-disciplinary teams need to be able to work as an integrated team, rather than as separate professionals. Protected time for team meetings and shared training is essential for team-building and the development of mutual trust and respect. 5. Is there scope for any further activity or support for the workforce to increase skills of those working with young children at all levels? Further activity should include: play being fully recognised as the prime experience for our youngest children. working with parents - projects and initiatives to support practitioners to work with parents to enable them to understand the importance of play in supporting their child s wellbeing, developmental and learning needs outside of the formal education setting, as well as projects and initiatives to support parents involvement in their children s early learning. space for play - provide training and support in educational settings and produce a range of materials and resources that emphasise the place of natural play experiences in both indoors and outdoors natural play spaces. supporting practitioners with the transition from early education settings to school There is a need to continue to develop and fund part-time programmes such as modular early childhood degrees, as well as high quality low-cost CPD opportunities. Two training models need to be mentioned here. The Modern Apprentice scheme whist a good scheme has drawbacks in that it is linked to distance learning, which requires huge motivation and commitment for a young person to keep up with. Often very young students are involved in this type of training and a certain level of maturity and good practical skills are required to take on this training, and to be successful with it. The Trainee Scheme is an Edinburgh initiative taught by experienced Heads of Centres. It is a mentored scheme leading to an SVQ level 3 qualification. The amount of training one afternoon per week over 2 years is unusual in the SVQ system. in this system the assessor is independent of the tutors which is a drawback. Usually the SVQ system is very dependent on the setting where the trainee is placed. In this Edinburgh model the settings are all local authority settings with fully qualified staff and a very good local authority infrastructure rather than private or voluntary settings, which have staff with lower qualifications. The trainees in Edinburgh are more mature than the Modern Apprentices who have to have left school within the last 3years. The mandatory SVQ units for the Trainee scheme do not include Child Development, and in fact there is no pure Child Development unit. The mandatory units are Health and Safety, Safeguarding, Effective Communication and Reflective Practice. The Scottish Government needs to refocus its agenda by raising standards and the public's perception. At present the focus is still on quantity rather than quality as demonstrated by this year s move to provide 600 hours without fully engaging staff in its implementation.

5 Local authorities could better support the workforce by providing better qualified development workers and visiting teachers with early years specialism. Management at local authority level needs to have early years specialism and greater understanding of and support for this sector. Minimising changes to their management structures and greater stability in policy aims would also be helpful. Nursery inspectors need to have early years specialism; currently the Care Inspectorate have developed a specialist structure however Education Scotland has stopped using early years specialist associate assessors, so inspectors knowledge of early years varies. Voluntary and community organisations also need funding structures that allow them to deliver quality services and to engage in long-term planning. Short term funding for innovative work is not the answer; this means that as soon as a project has proved its worth, funding comes to an end. Staff start seeking new posts before projects are completed and there is no room for consolidation and building on good practice. 6. How to increase the status of the early years workforce as a profession? More needs to be done to raise public awareness of the Early Years as a crucial stage in a child's life, and the impact on children which a professional and knowledgeable workforce can have. Increased understanding would lead to the nursery sector and its staff being valued by society as a whole, and there would be a higher status given to the people who provided this important service. There is a huge variety in standards between different early years settings, and standards are not universally good, which impacts on the status of the workforce. This could be addressed by seeking to achieve more consistently high standards. Differentiated pay scales for those willing to pursue training courses would also encourage recognition of the value of highly qualified staff. The Early Years workforce is dominated by women, and this does no doubt effect the status of the profession. More needs to be done to encourage men to train in early years work. In all areas work is needed strategically to improve profile and recognition and develop recruitment and training programmes targeted to under-represented groups to recruit and train locally. The move towards the BA qualification has not necessarily improved the status of the profession because of the nature of the qualification. At the moment holding a BA qualification doesn't always mean a high standard practitioner. Consideration should also be given to removal of the GTC registration barrier. 7. How to increase levels of recruitment and retention of the best candidates to build careers within early learning and childcare, to grow a high quality workforce in future? To increase recruitment and retention, early years staff need to be valued by the Scottish community, demonstrated by good pay and conditions including greater use of permanent rather than fixed term contracts.

6 In order to draw in the best candidates, the issue of pay is central. This especially applies to recruiting more men into childcare, where levels of pay links to perceived social status, scope for progression etc.. Pay is both a key issue in recruiting graduates, and an issue for low-paid staff, especially in high-cost areas such as Aberdeen, where flexibility is needed to make salaries reflect the cost of living. Flexible working patterns are needed to retain a young, female workforce. This needs to be balanced with providing continuity for the children being cared for. We welcome the opportunities that have been provided for progression, and the better structure provided for promotion as part of the Early Years Strategy. However, there is still a need to improve career structures. There are no progression opportunities for Nursery Teachers, who are being edged out of teams as the teachers contract no longer fits with the new hours. This is of concern as it is known through research that the best outcomes for children are when they have contact with adults with a good level of qualification. Improving the quality of the workforce requires the availability of staff with higher level qualifications, and measures to promote the transfer of skills, knowledge and qualifications across the whole early years workforce. Consideration should also be given to how best to attract high-calibre staff from elsewhere. More work must be done with employers and service users (parents and carers) in order to promote the benefits to them of recruiting a more inclusive staff team. Parents, too, need to appreciate the valuable contribution which workers from underrepresented groups can bring to settings, and to the children s understanding of the world around them. Strong, positive role models at national and local level are needed to support this. There are many barriers parental values, low salary levels, the fear of paedophilia. These can only be overcome by recruitment campaigns which address these issues and by reassuring parents that a more diverse workforce will help their child s care and education. Structures need to be changed to make people feel valued. Job satisfaction is a key element in retention of staff, especially when pay is low. The availability of support and mentoring and opportunities for ongoing development and CPD have a key role in building morale as well as raising skills. 8. How can staff, including heads and managers (teachers and childhood practitioners) with different skills, training and qualifications best be deployed to ensure a high quality provision for young children? There needs to be greater clarity about different roles - eg teachers, nursery nurses - and in exactly what way children should access the best qualified staff. At present teachers have different roles in different parts of Scotland - in some authorities early years teachers are never in the classroom. There are now very few specialist early years teachers left who have the ability to develop the curriculum, to be role models and to provide high quality input. Ratios need to be reviewed, eg there used to be a minimum ratio of half qualified practitioners to support staff. Ratios should not count trainees/unqualified students, as this would give them more time to learn and increase level of staffing within nursery to enable better mentoring and support.

7 Heads/managers/development workers must be qualified and experienced. The SSSC should be more aspirational; by now the SSSC should be requiring that practitioners are recruited with HNC/SVQ 3 level qualifications and managers to have a minimum of SVQ4 /PDA/ or be at degree level. The emphasis on leadership is important at this level. Line managers need training that enables them not only to motivate and manage performance but also to lead, to train and to manage the careers of their team. This is made more complex by working across agencies and disciplines. Graduate, experienced professional leadership and management should be a requirement. Scottish Government must ensure quality of provision through regulation and inspection which must be consistent. Settings that are identified as needing support should have people with strategic vision and knowledge of high quality practice seconded to them. The costs of early education and childcare must be realistic and accessible to all those who need it, therefore some financial support must be made available centrally for training and development to avoid the cost of additional training adding to high fees for parents. This is especially important in the voluntary and statutory sectors. Managers must be supported with training and mentoring for good business practice to ensure sustainability of all childcare and early years provision. Pace of change is an issue. A specific difficulty with the school workforce reform agenda has been that timescales have sometimes been very short.time for people to absorb information and plan workflows is essential in creating the right environment for change. We need well-publicised career pathways and appraisal schemes to encourage staff development and adequate funding for training. We need a workforce with the confidence to take responsibility for effective decision-making and the accountability that goes with it. This confidence will be developed by allowing staff the freedom to make decisions they see fit in different circumstances, rather than maintaining the current "tick box" approach to many aspects of social care provision. 9. Is the existing training for all those working within the early years workforce and the out of school care workforce equipping them with the skills and knowledge to provide high quality early learning experiences for young children? Parents want well qualified and experienced practitioners caring for their children. Many staff in the early years sector undertake on-the-job training and they are dependent upon in-house training. Current training is patchy and determined in many cases by the quality of the training providers. Whilst Care Commission and Education Scotland both have overall remits to oversee standards, this is not localised enough. Several highly publicised examples of early years settings losing their registration during 2014 demonstrate how inappropriate and poor quality training has been allowed to continue over an extended period of time. Training across the workforce should provide: flexibility a range of options

8 accessibility - opportunities for distance-learning support value for money practical/theoretical knowledge and skills opportunities for integration across the whole sector There are areas in which training could be improved linked to the different qualifications available. The SVQ depends so much on the placement: the quality of the overall provision/appropriate role models etc. The quality of the training can be poor and can be achieved too quickly; without establishing a rich underpinning knowledge base.. If a candidate is in a good setting, the training provided could be excellent. There is maybe a strong role for remaining nursery schools here. The BA qualification is good on theory and lacking in the practical needs of the day to day reality of working in an early years setting. This qualification could be improved by making going on placement a requirement - placements need to be provided throughout the course. There also seems to be no moderation of standards between providers, so different universities provide very different things eg Dundee is all on-line and there are no tutorials provided. Entry level requirements also need to be looked at. The high turnover of staff in private nurseries is perhaps not conducive to continued training. School qualification expectations for accessing college courses have dropped and the calibre of students literacy, numeracy and general knowledge skills can be poor. Out of school staff are often nursery qualified and have interchangeable jobs at crèches etc. There are few staff that really understand primary school children well enough to provide high quality afterschool provision. The SSSC should require playwork qualifications for this sector. With the aging population of nursery teachers, many of whom are close to retirement we will soon lose all those with the most experience, knowledge and expertise. We need to be certain that current training provides staff with a similar understanding of young children and their learning. Early Education 18 September 2014