I find it frustrating that we are referred to as 'childcarers', whatever our experience and qualifications may be. We are working for very low wages, whereas people with the same qualifications in the maintained sector are paid professional salaries.
When the Foundation Stage was introduced, many of us were hopeful that there would be a level playing field for all children and practitioners in the early years. However, this has not happened and so we continue to find ourselves regulated and funded by very different systems. Increasingly the maintained sector is being credited with providing the Foundation Stage, when in reality it is the private and voluntary sectors that are providing most of it, subsidised by those of us who work within it.
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