The Government underlined its determination to raise standards in the early years workforce with the launch of the £350m Graduate Leader Fund (GLF) to create graduate leadership within the sector.
The fund, which came into effect in April, is focused solely on private, voluntary and independent (PVI) settings. It initially runs for three years, but to address concerns about sustainability, ministers have given an in-principle commitment to make funds available until 2015.
It is rare for funding commitments to be made so far in advance. It demonstrates the importance the Government is placing on its drive to have a graduate leader in every setting by 2015 and two in post in provisions in the most deprived areas.
Fixing the initial three-year time span on the new fund, let alone the longer-term commitment, should overcome one of the major faults of its predecessor - the Transformation Fund, which was underspent when it was wound up at the end of March.
Complicated scheme
The £250m Transformation Fund provided financial backing for training routes to achieve the new graduate-level Early Years Professional Status (EYPS), boosted investment in Level 3-5 training to increase the numbers in the workforce with a Level 3 qualification and supported training for more staff to work with special needs children.
'The Transformation Fund was a very short-term fund that ran for just two years,' says Tina Jeffries, founding director of the careers consultants the Red Space Company. 'Local authorities all did it in different ways because it was left to their discretion to determine their local priorities. But it takes time to embed something new like this.'
Sarah Steel, proprietor of the Oxfordshire-based Old Station Nursery chain, believes 'the Transformation Fund was there for the taking'. She adds, 'It was a travesty that it was underspent, when it was so desperately needed. We had problems with it and never managed to claim any significant amount. It was all quite complex.'
She was not alone in finding it complex. Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, says, 'Many members said that they found it difficult and time-consuming to access, and were concerned by the conditions on acceptance of the funds, such as a cap on fees. Some were also worried about taking up the monies and making the commitment to employing a graduate, and what they would do if the individual then left. Many settings also mistakenly believed that this money was only for training at graduate level.'
Frustrated, too, was Samantha Graveling, director of Lilliput Montessori Nurseries in Leicestershire. She says, 'Last year, locally the Transformation Fund money was split into lots of different pots, and that was part of the reason for its downfall.
'When you were looking to see if you qualified, you would maybe find that you did not qualify for that particular allocation but did qualify for something else which involved contacting someone else. It was completely frustrating.'
More flexibility
Of the new GLF fund, Ms Tanuku says, 'It has more flexibility and, most importantly, can be used to support salaries, which is one of the biggest concerns for nurseries when employing a graduate leader.' However, in its feedback on the GLF guidance, the NDNA said that it was critical that local authorities avoid excessive local conditions to avert another low take-up of funding.
The GLF focuses specifically on securing graduate early years professionals. Unlike its predecessor, it does not include funding to support training and continuing professional development in the wider workforce, or a cap on fees.
The guidelines for implementation from the Department for Children, Schools and Families says that local authorities should work with PVI providers to prioritise and allocate the GLF in ways which best meet local needs and demands.
The fund includes £73m earmarked for the Children's Workforce Development Council to help more practitioners attain Early Years Professional status.
However, the bulk of the money will go to settings in the private, voluntary and independent sectors to help them hire graduates or 'grow' their own. For example, the five GLF funding streams offered by Leicestershire County Council are:
- a bursary for practitioners undertaking qualifications to Level 5
- support to a maximum of £3,600 over three years towards fees for practitioners gaining the qualifications to put them on an EYPS pathway
- a £2,000 pre-graduate premium for settings employing someone undertaking a recognised Level 5 qualification and who is committed to proceeding to EYP status
- a £3,000 recruitment incentive to hire a graduate who has EYP status or who is working towards it
- a £5,000 post-graduate premium for settings already employing a leader who has or is working towards EYP status.
Core aims
'Is it more flexible and accessible?' asks Tina Jeffries. 'Yes and no. The Transformation Fund was ring-fenced. The GLF is not ring-fenced but has core aims, so its application can be broader and local authorities can construct a model that will enable them to target settings they need to reach.'
A setting can only receive one pre- or post-graduate premium at any one time and not both together. Providers have some concerns about the impact and sustainability of the premiums to be used to boost an individual's salary.
Although there has been the in-principle commitment to running the fund until 2015, Ms Tanuku says, 'NDNA does question what will happen after this point if providers have no source of support for salaries, and would like to see firm commitment to ongoing support in this area.
'Apart from one or two isolated cases about difficulties with local conditions, NDNA has heard positive reports of local authorities working closely with providers to determine local need and application criteria. It is important that we monitor how use of the fund is progressing, and that nurseries share their experiences to ensure that the fund works for all involved.'
But Mrs Steel says, 'We are still trying to unravel what will be available. Some areas where we operate, like Lincolnshire, are really on the ball and have given out booklets explaining the GLF and what is available and how to access it. In other areas it is a case of wait and see.
'I embrace the GLF wholeheartedly, but I am concerned that with support only for one EYP/one graduate, what happens when another person inspired by their colleague's progress says, "I want to progress my career"?'
Management structure
'I also have concerns about the impact on the management structure. With the premium, I could have an EYP earning, say, more than an experienced deputy manager. I have some amazingly good managers but do not necessarily want them to achieve EYP status because I want them to manage the nursery and the staff and all that side. But the EYPs should manage the curriculum. You could end up with a two-tier management structure - with an administrative side and a curriculum side - and be in danger of doubling your management costs.'
Mrs Graveling, who along with four of her managers has been in receipt of GLF to help fund their early years foundation degrees, says, 'I have a couple of very strong deputy managers who want to qualify as Montessori teachers. I am glad about that, because if they had wanted to achieve EYPS I am not sure how I would support them. The manager in their setting is already in receipt of the GLF grant, so I would have to fund them personally.
'This drive to get everyone up the career ladder is going to make it difficult to afford their salaries. The allocation of £3,000 is for three years and it is not clear what happens after that.'
Salary premiums
She wonders if the salary premium could upset the equilibrium in small settings. 'I have one small setting with just 27 places. If someone there starts getting £3,000 more, there will be a big difference to the nursery and to its wages bill. As soon as the funding disappears you are likely to lose that person.'
Ms Jeffries says, 'Particularly in the voluntary sector, there is a concern that people will develop and get to graduate status and then leave.
'We need to make a direct correlation between improving the quality of the practice and developing graduate leadership. Maybe one way is to support the development of a graduate leader in a setting in conjunction with a quality improvement plan for the setting, so that the two are intrinsically linked. The graduate leader is not then seen as elite but as someone who cascades and shares their knowledge so that everyone can benefit.'
Further information:
The Graduate Leader Fund and an Example of the Graduate Leader Fund Framework can be downloaded from: www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/earlyyearsworkforce.
