Teaching union creates early years council
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
A ‘sector council’ which aims to raise the profile of early years by lobbying on key issues has been created by NAHT.
The Early Years Council, which is part of and accountable to the executive of the National Association of Head Teachers, came about after the union decided to represent early years on its national executive for the first time in December.
The council so far has three national executive members and five members co-opted from NAHT’s wider membership, including heads of nursery schools, and representatives of children’s centres, SEND in the early years, and those in partnership work with PVI settings.
Council chair Judy Shaw, headteacher of Tuel Lane Infant School in Halifax, said members will soon be approaching members of the PVI sector. ‘In the coming weeks, we will be inviting EY practitioners, representatives and champions of settings other than schools and academic voices- experts in child development and learning styles - to join us.’
The sector council, which also has those with local authority and leadership experience, and representation from Wales and Northern Ireland, was set up to ‘become a strong, positive, influential voice for those working in early years’ she said.
‘It has seemed that the early years sector is the Cinderella of our education system. The voices representing primary and secondary education speak far louder than ours; their developments and concerns constantly make news headlines. Does early years have the same attention and status? I’m not convinced it does. the creation of this new sector council aims to change that.’
At the first meeting, which was held in June, the committee discussed forming policy around key areas, which included the 30 hours and potential impact on the most disadvantaged children, funding, and concerns over the quality and status of early years qualifications and the recruitment of well qualified staff.
Other key priorities include multi-agency support for children and families, the status of nursery schools, and assessment.
The sector council is different to a sector skills council, which is an industry-specific employer-led organisation licensed by the Government.
More information about this body will be published in the September issue of our Nursery Management supplement.
