What NCRNE stands for:
The right of every 3 & 4 year old to a state funded nursery education placeThe National Campaign for Real Nursery Education was founded in 1965 to press for a rapid increase in nursery education provision. Our campaigning is as essential today as it was 40 years ago. We must fight to maintain and extend the quality of provision.
We need to work to protect the needs and rights of young childrenPARLIAMENTARY MEETING REPORT Margaret Edgington welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked Annette Brooke MP for accepting the invitation to become President of NCrNE. She went on to outline some of the current key areas of concern for NCrNE. These were: the tensions between QTS and EYP status, particularly the changes to some teachers job descriptions; nursery closures; the EYFS; and the quality of training being received by people undertaking the NVQ Level Two and Three qualifications.
Annette Brooke MP thanked NCrNE for inviting her to be its President and said that she was honoured to take up the position. She said that she had visited Tachbrook Nursery School with her colleague David Laws MP and been very impressed with the quality of the provision on offer there for young children. It was reported that David Laws had also been particularly impressed with the outdoor area at Tachbrook.
Outdoor play remaining non-statutory within the EYFS was an ongoing concern for Annette Brooke MP. She suggested that it would have been more appropriate for outdoor play to have been made a statutory requirement with settings able to apply for exemptions to the regulation.
Annette Brooke MP told members that through her involvement with Early Education and NCrNE she could see common issues emerging in the early years sector. These were: the EYP; literacy goals; EYFS being too prescriptive; outdoor play; and phonics. She said that she supported the roll out of the EYFS to the age of 7. Members were also informed that Annette had tabled an Early Day Motion in parliament which noted the concerns of the Open Eye campaign.
With regard to the EYFS Annette Brooke MP said that she believed that it was necessary to have a framework for the early years against which assessments could be made in order to sustain quality. She went on to say that whilst the move to 15 hours free provision was welcomed it required substantial additional funding in order to be effective and sustainable.
Discussion
In the discussion which followed the following comments were made:
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There is a contradiction between the needs of children and what is currently taking place in early years education.
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The system will not work unless high quality staffing is maintained.
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There is a difference between intellectual development and academic learning which is not recognised under the EYFS and current assessment system using the Foundation Stage Profile (FSP).
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It is unhelpful for young children to have an adult agenda foist upon them.
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Many people on NVQ courses are undertaking their placements whilst working for agencies. This is a concern as it means that they are receiving no mentoring or modelling in order to both learn and improve their practice. It was also clear from several contributions to the discussion that training providers are under pressure to pass all students on the NVQ courses despite their ability or aptitude for working with young children.
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In Children’s Centres there are too many surveys to complete on issues such as how many fathers use the Centre, which detract from the actual job of working with all groups of parents in a practical way.
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Many concerns were expressed about the new funding formula for the early years which it was felt would lead to closures, or the reduction in quality, of nursery provision. It was noted that the Government had received a powerful lobby from the National Day Nurseries Association to bring funding for the PV sector in line with the maintained sector.
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Concern was also expressed about the damaging nature of the 15 hours provision and the flexibility of quality. The EYFS was not linked to principles.
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Children learn in a social and emotional context and should have the right to know who they will be playing with each day. It becomes difficult for adults to support children effectively if the children do not have a regular pattern of attendance. Children also require a continuity of staffing. With the current structure of nursery education in nursery schools and nursery classes all staff have the opportunity to discuss children’s progress at the end of each session in order to plan for the next session. The introduction of the 15 hours will leave no time for this and will therefore have a detrimental effect on children’s learning.
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The FSP provides invalid data and is being used for local authority target-setting which was not its original purpose. Concern was expressed about why the government were pursuing these routes.
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Annette Brooke MP concluded by saying that the ‘Sufficiency of Childcare’ regulations for local authorities would begin on April 1st. She was concerned that the emphasis of the Government by introducing these measures was on quantity of childcare and not quality.
DIARY DATES ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND AGM '08:
Saturday 21st June 10am
"When will they ever learn?"
Dominic Wyse (Senior Lecturer in Early Years and Primary Education, University of Cambridge)
Jan Dubiel (N.A.A. principal officer for the Foundation Stage Profile)
Pauline Trudell (NCRNE Committee member)
Isaac Newton Professional Development Centre, London W11
CONFERENCE JUNE '07 PRESS RELEASE
'IS POLICY FAILING YOUNG CHILDREN ?'
NURSERY EDUCATION IN CRISIS
At its AGM on Saturday 23rd June the National Campaign for Real Nursery Education (NCRNE) deplored the continuing threat to the highest quality nursery education. Successive research reports have indicated clearly that outcomes for children are best in settings where teachers are employed to work directly with the children and lead staff in curriculum development. The best settings were found to be maintained nursery schools and integrated centres with a strong nursery school core.
However, members reported that maintained nursery schools are facing closure and that Children’s Centres with a strong nursery school core may not be funded well enough in the future to maintain the quality of their work with young children. Additionally it was felt that teacher training courses are currently not adequate for those wishing to specialise with the youngest learners, and that Early Years Professional status is not rigorous enough.
Members unanimously urged the government to take active steps to:
Protect the remaining maintained nursery schools and to ensure that Children’s Centres with a strong nursery school presence do not lose funding – these provide the role models of outstanding practice which must not be lost.
Re-establish a strong specialist early years teacher programme which covers practice with children from birth to 8 and which prepares candidates for interagency working.
Margaret Edgington, Vice President commented: ‘If we lose our best nursery education provision the whole early years sector will be impoverished. Nursery Schools and fully integrated centres provide the role model of inspiring, reflective practice and must be retained for practitioners in other settings to learn from.’
