Our annual Business Summit, on 13 November, was a sobering reminder of the challenges facing the sector. The big question of the day was how long can the sector go on in the face of a recruitment crisis and ‘a massive shortfall in funding that is impacting on sustainability’ (Courteney Donaldson, Christie & Co)?
With a general election looming, it is worth reminding ourselves just how long this problem of underfunding has been going on – I delved into past news stories on our website and found a ‘Funding fatigue’ headline dating back to July 2006.
Obviously, whoever forms the next government needs to address the problem. But they should also acknowledge the long-term impact of underfunding on settings’ training budgets and, hence, quality of practice.
At the Business Summit, analyst Pennie Akehurst presented her findings on the first 254 PVI inspection reports under the new framework (see News, pages 10-11). As predicted, Ofsted inspectors are paying far greater heed to the quality of the curriculum and teaching, and I can’t help but wonder how much better placed some practitioners might have been to ‘deliver’ on the new ‘quality of education’ judgement if they had enjoyed access to ongoing and high-quality CPD training over the last decade and more.
In this issue, we also return to the Government consultation on the EYFS. Given the pressures on the sector, it is little wonder if this doesn’t feel a priority. But once again, I’d urge everybody to respond. You have until 31 January 2020.
The Government approach to revising the EYFS has left the sector bewildered. The consultation is limited to the goals, EYFS Profile and the educational programmes, with no regard to younger children and how the learning intentions for this age group will marry with the latest proposals. The revised Development Matters guidance may not be published until 2021 (see pages 16-17).
It feels like the Government is piecing together its ‘jigsaw’ of the early years, reshaping, removing and adding individual pieces, without showing the sector the picture on the box!