Staff working in early years do a remarkable job educating and caring for babies and young children when they are at a crucial stage of life.
The quality of early years provision is good and improving. Seventy four per cent of provision is good or outstanding compared with 65 per cent three years ago; that's a tribute to the dedication of childcare professionals across the country.
The standard of early education and childcare is related to better intellectual, cognitive and social development in children at entry to school and throughout school. The Government knows how important this work is and I am delighted that birth to five is an integral part of the remit of the new National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL).
Even though it is going from strength to strength, there is more work to do if we want all provision to be outstanding for all children. Ofsted reports the stark fact that more than one third of children start school unable to work securely in communication, language and literacy.
That's about 200,000 children. This proportion can rise to almost half of children in poorer areas.
Highly skilled and qualified staff are key to changing this - talented professionals like Helen Rees who was awarded an extremely well-deserved MBE for services to nursery teaching this year.
I learnt so much from Helen, about how a good early years environment has the power to transform children's lives, when I was head of the Willows special school and she set up and ran our nursery, First Steps.
NEW QUALIFICATIONS
NCTL has begun its work by developing robust standards for Early Years Teachers and criteria to underpin new Early Years Educator qualifications. These set out what will be expected of the new Early Years Teachers and Early Years Educators - new titles we hope will become benchmarks of quality.
The introduction of the Early Years Teacher, building on the Early Years Professional Status programme, is aimed at attracting more high-quality graduates into early education, and gives one title of 'teacher' across the early years and schools.
Early Years Teacher training is the only teacher training focused on the birth to five age range and the Teachers' Standards (Early Years) are specifically designed for this age group. This makes Early Years Teachers well placed within the wider education system to meet the needs of young children, parents and employers for high-quality provision. Recruitment to the first training courses for Early Years Teachers is going well and successful applicants start training this month.
We have also extended the reach of Teach First into early years to work with threeto seven-year-olds in some of the most disadvantaged areas. These high-calibre graduates are working in schools now and will also develop their knowledge of birth to three through bespoke placements.
Early Years Educators - holding A Level equivalent qualifications - will often act as assistants to Early Years Teachers or may deliver teaching, learning and childcare themselves. Learners can apply to undertake the new Early Years Educator qualifications during 2013-2014 and will start their courses from September 2014.
As a transitional measure to support the delivery of early learning places for two-year-olds, we have introduced an Apprenticeship Bursary scheme for better qualified candidates with grade C or above in English and mathematics. The scheme is now open for applications.
Our ultimate aim is to support the growth of a self-improving system for children from birth to 18 - in other words, an education system that recognises the huge potential of talent within it, with the professionals who know best driving improvements.
It is ultimately about trusting the profession. There has, I believe, been an unnecessary polarisation of opinions on play. We all recognise that play is essential for children to develop. But teacher-led activities that focus on learning specific knowledge and skills are also hugely important. Children need different approaches at different times.
We must break down the divide that can exist between schools and early years and encourage opportunities to share expertise, resources and knowledge to improve the learning and achievement of children. It works both ways - from nurseries to schools as well as from schools to nurseries.
SHARING EXPERTISE
I am pleased to see early years specialists increasingly sharing their resources and knowledge. There are now teaching school alliances led by maintained nursery schools with children's centres. I hope that we can enable more good practice and expertise to be shared in this way, because the more that schools and nurseries collaborate, the better the outcomes for children.
We want early years providers to continue to embrace their role in young children's education and play an important part in working with others towards achieving a world-class birth-to-18 system. It makes sense that the work of early years and schools is interconnected. Parents want to see continuity, and so do children.
- See our training feature on page 25 of the Nursery Management supplement, free with this issue.