Review of early years qualifications - Nutbrown maps the way to quality

Three cheers for Cathy Nutbrown! Foundations for Quality - the final report of her review of early years qualifications - was released last week and is the principled, honest, respectful report that the sector needs if we are ever to make sensible progress with qualifications. Let us urge the Government to support all the report recommendations. They are too important for the welfare of our children to dilute or ignore. And let us also take up the report's challenge to the sector to assume some responsibility for improving the quality of the sector ourselves.

Professor Nutbrown sets out the principle on which she has based the whole review right at the beginning of her foreword to the report: 'Learning begins from birth, and high-quality early education and care has the potential to make an important and positive impact on the learning, development and well-being of babies and young children, in their daily lives and the longer term. This country has long understood the importance of early education, with nursery schools having been established for almost a century. We have come a long way since those early days, and I believe that every child in home and group settings today deserves the very best early education and care. This is the principle upon which I have based my Review and this Final Report.' (page 2)

I hope the significance of this particular choice of words is not lost on Government ministers and civil servants. Her use of the word 'babies' reflects and reinforces her recognition of birth as the starting point for learning in the early years. Her stress on early education does not in any way suggest that care is not important. In section 2.7, for instance, she says, 'Of course, all of those working in the early years - whatever their job title and role - must be carers as well as educators, providing the warmth and love children need to develop emotionally alongside and as part of planned and spontaneous learning opportunities.' However, the report's consistent use of the term 'early education' underlines the fact that what we are engaged in in early years is more than 'childcare'.

Although Professor Nutbrown recognises the longer-term impact of high-quality provision, she first mentions its importance in a child's earliest stages, thus underlining the fact that 'early years' is a signficant period in its own right rather than a waiting room for school. Not once in the whole report does she refer to school readiness - just one of the reasons why I referred to this report as respectful. It is honest because it does not shy away from some awkward issues.

This final report is based on a vision for early years, refined in consultation during the review, where:

• every child is able to experience high-quality care and education whatever type of home or group setting they attend

• early years staff have a strong professional identity, take pride in their work and are recognised and valued by parents, other professionals and society as a whole

• high-quality early education and care is led by well-qualified early years practitioners; and

• the importance of childhood is understood, respected and valued.

MIDDLE WAY

There are some fundamental issues to be tackled if this vision is to become a reality for every child. Recommendations 1 to 4 (page 29 of the report) get right into sorting out the plethora of qualifications by finding a 'middle way' - not going for a single qualification, but seeking to ensure that the definition of a 'full and relevant' qualification is tightened up considerably.

Such an approach leaves some flexibility for diversity in the system but is not so flexible as to result in poor quality. Figure 2 on page 23 of the report gives a clear and rigorous outline of what full and relevant criteria should include (see below).

There has been widespread concern in the sector about the Level 2 qualification. I have heard many discussions of this recently in the context of the revised EYFS emphasis on how children learn, with people saying that this qualification is a completely insufficient grounding in child development. The report recommends outlawing Level 2 as an appropriate qualification level for working with young children.

Recommendations 5, 6 and 7 (page 34) suggest a gradual phasing in, from 2013 to 2022, of all staff counted in the staff:child ratios being qualified at Level 3 or above. Significantly, given the continuing pressure from Government to deregulate childminding, childminders are included in this expectation, in line with the view of many childminders that, for the benefit of children, childminders should be as well qualified as the rest of the workforce.

Level 2 makes a more welcome appearance in the context of recommendation 8 (page 37) which would make it mandatory to have Level 2 English and Mathematics before entry to an early years course. This may make some people uncomfortable, but as Professor Nutbrown points out, 'An early years practitioner should be sufficiently confident in their own literacy and numeracy to bring a story to life imaginatively and help children explore through play concepts such as number, size, weight and shape - and they must be able to do this in a way that engages and enthuses young children to enjoy learning and to discover more' (para 3.7).

Recommendations 9 to 12 (pages 40 and 42) deal specifically with improving the quality of tutoring and placements for students on courses so that all in the sector can support a more rigorous approach. This is welcome and deals with the reality that there are currently some course tutors who are not themselves qualified to the level of the course they are teaching. Recommendations 14 and 15 (pages 51 and 53) take the quest for quality beyond initial qualification and into in-setting support and CPD in line with the revised EYFS requirement for supervision.

Clearly, these recommendations are going to have a huge impact on the sector if accepted, but I urge everyone to read the whole report as the professor and her team of experts have so clearly listened hard to the sector. All the recommendations are based on deep respect for children and practitioners, are well argued and based on insight into the issues.

Recommendation 13 (page 49) is a case in point: 'The Department for Education should conduct research on the number of BME staff at different qualification levels, and engage with the sector to address any issues identified.' During the course of the review it was suggested that practitioners from black and minority ethnic groups tend to have lower level qualifications. As Professor Nutbrown says in para 4.18, 'The suggestion that BME practitioners tend to have lowerlevel qualifications is based on anecdotal evidence only. During my review, I actively sought evidence to confirm or deny this, but was not able to answer the question comprehensively. I have been concerned by how little we know about the make-up of our workforce at the different qualification levels, particularly on this point about BME practitioners.'

This is a concern as she does not want the recommendations to have negative impacts on any practitioners so we need more information about the make-up of the early years workforce.

QUALIFIED TEACHER STATUS

Recommendations 16 to 18 (pages 59, 61 and 62) go where no Government has yet had the courage or political will to go - the crucial importance of pedagogical leadership and the lack of parity between Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) and Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). The dilemma is summed up neatly in para 5.12: 'However hard we try, I do not believe a status that is not the same as QTS will ever be seen as equal to QTS.'

A new early years specialist route to QTS, specialising in the years from birth to seven is recommended starting from September 2013 and any individual holding Early Years Professional Status should be able to access routes to obtain QTS as a priority.

Figure 3 in para 4.9 (see above) sets out the possible future job titles and roles. with a graduate holding EYPS seen as someone who leads practice across a setting and who could be manager. A graduate with QTS would provide overall pedagogical leadership.

The final recommendation, number 19 (page 63), puts responsibility on the sector to decide whether we should go for a licensing system or royal college approach. Personally, I think the rest of the report gives us more than enough to be getting on with.

Please read the whole of this wise and well-written report and think carefully about how we can all encourage the Government and the sector to decide how they want to take forward the recommendations, how to make the vision a reality. We cannot afford to compromise on the quality of provision. To quote Professor Nutbrown herself when launching her report: 'This means making sure those who are entrusted with the care and education of our babies and young children are equipped with the skills, knowledge and understanding they need. Poor quality provision will mean that young children pay a heavy price - they will miss out.'

PROPOSED CONTENT OF THE NEW LEVEL 3 QUALIFICATION

• Provide a thorough understanding of child development. This should make up at least 60 per cent of any course, and should cover:

- Child development and learning from birth to seven - including issues of attachment, social development, health and wellbeing, neuroscience and brain development, learning theories, and cognitive development

- Special educational needs and disability issues

- Language development

- Play

• Provide an understanding of, and explain responsibilities in relation to safeguarding and child protection issues, health and safety, nutrition, basic first aid, and legal obligations and duties

• Cover issues of diversity and inclusion, including how every child can be given the best possible early years experience, paying due attention to their background and heritage, and welcoming and supporting different types of families

• Provide an understanding of the importance of working in partnership with parents to support their children's learning and development

- Ensure that students learn how to apply knowledge in a reflective and appropriate way, differentiating between the needs of each child.

FIGURE 3: A PROPOSED NEW SET OF CONSISTENT JOB TITLES AND ROLES
JOB TITLE: Early Years Assistant/Trainee
Level of full and relevant early years qualification: Unqualified, level
2, perhaps on a training route to level 3
Included in ratios for EYFS?: No
Role includes: Supervised support work within a setting, learning on the
job

JOB TITLE: Early Years Apprentice
Level of full and relevant early years qualification: Unqualified, Level
2, on an Apprenticeship route
Included in ratios for EYFS?: No
Role includes: Supervised support work within a setting, learning on the
job

JOB TITLE: Early Years Practitioner
Level of full and relevant early years qualification: Level 3
Included in ratios for EYFS?: Yes
Role includes: Leading practice within a room, working directly with
children and families. Could be a manager in small setting

JOB TITLE: Senior Early Years Practitioner
Level of full and relevant early years qualification: Level 4 and above
Included in ratios for EYFS?: Yes
Role includes: Leading practice across a number of rooms, working
directly with children and families.Could be a manager

JOB TITLE: Early Years Professional
Level of full and relevant early years qualification: Graduate, with
EYPS
Included in ratios for EYFS?: Yes
Role includes: Leading practice across a setting, working directly with
children and families. Could be a manager

JOB TITLE: Early Years Teacher
Level of full and relevant early years qualification: Graduate, with QTS
Included in ratios for EYFS?: Yes
Role includes: Providing overall pedagogical leadership for a setting,
working directly with children and families, and supporting staff with
lower levels of qualifications.

MORE INFORMATION

Foundations for Quality - the independent review of early education and childcare qualifications, Final Report is at: www.education.gov.uk/nutbrownreview

Helen Moylett, Early Learning Consultancy, President Early Education (www.early-education.org.uk)