PROFESSIONAL EQUALS
Five years ago I had a letter printed in Nursery World giving the view that, although the Foundation Stage had been introduced, it had not resulted in an even playing field for those of us working in the non-maintained sector.
We now have the Early Years Foundation Stage and Letters and Sounds Phase 1. At last we have guidance for a curriculum based on the individual development 'story' of each child, and an acknowledgement of the vital importance of communication from birth for emotional and language development.
However, the gap in pay and conditions between those working in the maintained and in the non-maintained sectors of early years care and education has never been wider, or more glaringly obvious.
I have just left a setting that is a pre-school whose premises (rented) are in a primary school. I am a qualified practitioner with a Cert Ed, a Montessori diploma and an Advanced Diploma in Childcare and Education, completed in 2000. I have worked for 20 years in the PVI sector of nursery education. Despite this, and as a day-to-day manager at the setting, I was only just earning £8 an hour (since September 2008) for the hours I worked. Had I been employed as a reception teacher, just along the school corridor, I would have been earning a nationally agreed professional salary.
Until the Government recognises early years practitioners as professionals and rewards them with national pay scales, according to their level of qualifications and post held, then any professional qualifications, including the EYPS, are totally devalued.
We are all working towards the five outcomes for children in the Every Child Matters agenda. But until these outcomes are put in place for the adults who work in non-maintained settings, then equality for everyone will be hugely compromised.
Ann Orpwood, Radstock, Somerset
- Letter of the Week wins £30 worth of books
LEVEL 3 CHILDMINDERS
I read Simona McKenzie's letter (13 November) with interest. I agree with registered childminders having to meet learning and development requirements. However, there is one thing that needs to be changed in the EYFS wording before childminders could give children the free early years entitlement, which is that they have a Level 3 qualification. The Framework states that in all other settings 'all supervisors and managers must hold a full and relevant level 3 qualification' (page 31).
As an NCMA tutor who delivered awareness training on the EYFS, I have found that a lot of childminders are worried about how to observe, assess and plan and how to link to the six areas of learning - even though they are covering them in their practice. The introductory training course that childminders do to register is basic, and there is so much more to learn about child development.
I know that not every childminder wants to be working towards a Level 3 qualification, and there is no requirement, which is why there needs to be some quality assurance, which being on an NCMA Children Come First network brings. One of its requirements is to have, or be working towards a Level 3 qualification.
Lynnette Wood, Cheadle Hulme, Stockport
PUSHED TO EXCLUSION
It has recently been reported that 4,000 children aged five years and under were suspended from nursery schools in one year. The reasons given included violent and disruptive behaviour.
This underlines the view I expressed in my previous letter (22 October) about the disastrous effects of forward-facing pushchairs.
Manufacturers, please put an end to the production of forward-facing pushchairs and return to the happier times of parents and children facing each other and enjoying each other's company when out walking.
Every child wants, and needs, to be noticed. A lack of attention is often the major underlying cause of behavioural problems in children. Certainly, with more attention from the parent this situation could not be made any worse.
Betty Hollinrake, Romford, Essex Send your letters to ... The Editor, Nursery World, 174 Hammersmith Road, London W6 7JP; letter.nw@haymarket.com; 020 8267 8402