I would like to respond to Sir Michael Wilshaw (news, 19 March-1 April).Oh dear Sir Michael, it would appear you have thrown your baby out withthe bathwater!
I am so sorry you don't appear to value the money spent on childminders'inspections. If you ever were to experience one, you would find afour-hour, one-on-one inspection an intense examination, which wouldexplain the expense. However, I fear your comment 'I think the issue is... it becomes childminding, care and support rather than subscribing tothe EYFS education goals' highlights your lack of understanding of thechildminding profession.
Maybe you think we just drag the children round on school runs andshopping trips. Yes, of course we do. It's a part of a childhood thatchildren are losing out on, as more families shop online and dropchildren off at breakfast clubs. Through the school run they learn tomind about other people (personal, social and emotional development),they know they too will grow up and their turn will come, and they learna lot about time (problem solving, reasoning and numeracy). They walk(or hop or skip or jump) to the local shops to buy the food they aregoing to eat (physical development). I care that they learn their rightfrom their left as they learn to cross the road (unique child). Isupport them when they are looking for the items on the shopping list(communication, language and literacy), or sorting out the money to pay(PSRN). And we bring pleasure to the shop assistants who join in thegame, counting the change back into their hands (making a positivecontribution and relationships). The children have real experiences tosupport their imaginations when they play shops back at home(imagination and response).
I mind that the children may not experience a wide range of healthy food(PD), so they help me cook, we care that enough food is cooked foreveryone (making a positive contribution and inclusive practice) and Isupport their learning by eating with them, modelling how to hold aknife and fork so when they go to school they won't eat with theirfingers (PD).
I take care that we visit the library every week so the children join inwith story time (EE and CLL), meeting other children and adults, and Isupport them so even the youngest know how to sit and listen to a storyand join in a craft activity (inclusive practice).
Children are individuals, so I take care that each child has anindividual learning plan and records which support their learning acrossthe whole of their lives (enabling environments - observation,assessment and planning).
Of course childminders subscribe to the EYFS - it is at the heart ofeverything we do, not a bolt-on extra, as we support the children'slearning in real family life. The cost of which makes childminding tous, not just a job nor even a career, but a vocation.
Maybe Sir Michael might care to re-mind himself what childmindersactually do before he makes any further claims about them. In whichcase, I would be delighted to support his learning.
Alison Cook, childminder, Sheffield
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LET'S VALUE SECTOR'S UNSUNG WORK
Professor Nutbrown's Interim Review of Early Years and ChildcareQualifications highlights how far the early years and childcare sectorhas travelled in recent years and how far it has still to go.
Qualification levels within the workforce are at an all-time high, asare the standard and quality of early years provision, as judged byOfsted. This is why it is disappointing that a genuine desire to improvehas been reported in The Times and The Daily Telegraph in such anegative manner. It is also disappointing that a sector organisationshould be quoted about this being a 'wake-up call', 'a shockingoversight that parents would be very unhappy about' and said 'it isshameful that you need higher qualifications to get into hairdressing oranimal care'.
We are all aware of the challenges the early years sector faces anddestabilising parents' confidence in childcare and the childcareworkforce is nothing more than scaremongering.
Childcare has traditionally been a low-pay, low-status sector. Soperhaps the one positive element coming from the uninformed criticism isthat it highlights the importance of the unsung work that early yearsstaff do.
If the Government is serious about wanting to raise the status of thesector, then they should fund it appropriately, and society should focuson the value of what those working in the sector already give youngchildren.
Neil Leitch, chief executive, Pre-school Learning Alliance, London.
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