Opinion: Letters

I fully support the Government's acknowledgement of the importance of early years education and its ambitious plans to have a graduate leading every nursery setting by 2015.

However, as a graduate currently managing a London nursery, I am writing to warn that the measures being taken to facilitate this will, in fact, have the disastrous opposite effect of persuading graduates like me that their qualifications are wasted in working with such young children.

I have been told that in order for my nursery to qualify for the graduate recruitment fund, I need to go back to college to gain Early Years Professional Status. I already have a degree from Cambridge and a Post Graduate Certificate of Education, specialising in early years.

While I would never claim that my qualifications mean I need no further training, surely if the objective is to attract graduates to the profession, it is ludicrous to spend money on sending those who are already graduates back to college, especially those with relevant teaching qualifications.

I love working in an early years setting, but feel that this over-bureaucratic approach completely undermines my degree and PGCE. I doubt that many teaching graduates will be attracted to work in nursery settings when they realise that after a four year slog they need a further 'status' to begin work.

Train up unqualified nursery staff, help fund non-graduates to take up further studies, yes, but taking graduates out of nurseries and away from the children to gain a 'status' is an absurd and misguided use of funds.

Amelia Aptaker, by e-mail

- Letter of the Week wins £40 worth of children's books.

VALUE OF EXPERIENCE

As an avid reader of Nursery World I agree with Tim Burton's 'In my view' (13 December) regarding entrance to Early Years Professional Status.

I am a mature student on a BA Honours Degree in Educational Studies specialising in the early years. I have many years experience, in private nurseries, creches, pre-schools and primary schools.

I have always done training to further my skills and knowledge, but am disappointed that to pursue my career further to Early Years Professional Status or the Primary PGCE, I now need to either sit online tests in English, maths and science at the cost of £55 each or pass GCSEs in these subjects to qualify for a course place.

What about the experience I have gained over the years, such as doing book-keeping, and working behind a bar (yes, adding it up in my head, not on a computer!), to name but a few.

Will the Government never learn that to get the highly skilled early years workforce that it desires, dedicated to offering quality childcare, it needs to be flexible about the entrance? For me, this is not modelling 'inclusive practice'.

Nicky Hewitt, Hull University

NOT ONLY NURSERIES

I have been reading Nursery World for more than 30 years. My career has spanned working as a nursery nurse, in a nursery class, reception class, day nursery, play schemes and as a nanny. I did a degree and a PGCE to teach adults and spent many years training nursery nurses. I had my own child and then retrained to become an early years teacher. I now lecture for the Open University on its foundation degree in Early Childhood Studies and also work as a freelance trainer. Nursery World has been there throughout. And the recent 'revamp' has made it totally unrecognisable compared with the magazine of 30 years ago.

At a training session for a group of childminders on the implementation of the EYFS, I showed them Nursery World with particular reference to the EYFS links at the end of many articles. Only two of the group regularly read Nursery World. The others were unaware it related to their work because of the title. They thought it was only relevant to people in nursery settings.

Surely it is time the name was changed. Would 'Early Years World' better reflect the changes that have taken place in the early years?

Kath Tayler, Brighton

EDITOR'S NOTE: What do readers think? We'd like to hear your comments, either through the letters page or our website, www.nurseryworld.co.uk.

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The Editor, Nursery World, 174 Hammersmith Road, London W6 7JP; letter.nw@haymarket.com 020 8267 8402.