That is true – and has been for a long time – in terms of Government policy, in society at large, and in nurseries themselves, and we are aware that the subject doesn’t always get its fair share of space in Nursery World either.
We’re redressing the balance somewhat in this issue of the magazine with a six-page special focus on baby room projects and how they have been developed since the original one set up by Kathy Goouch and Sacha Powell of Canterbury Christchurch University in 2009.
I was privileged to be part of the working group for that first project, and saw the great progress that was made in empowering the practitioners who were often the youngest and least-qualified in the setting. It was a project that deserved to be taken up and funded nationally to spread the approach far and wide.
That was always unlikely to happen, especially as funding constraints worsened and national and local government reduced support and training for the early years sector.
However, the seeds that were sown are still producing green shoots around the UK and, indeed, as far afield as China, the US and Australia.
In this issue, we talk to Kathy and Sacha, and profile new projects in Durham, Bristol and Medway which continue the style and spirit of that earliest work.
As we move forward in a new political climate, however, we must remember that there is still a long way to go to recognise the full importance of the role of baby room practitioners. As Kathy and Sacha point out, we must give them the status they deserve and the investment into their careers that they need.
