A united voice

Because the work I do straddles the early years, primary and secondary school sectors, I get an interesting perspective on the 'feel' in each one. There are several ways in which the early years sector feels different to the schools sector. Firstly, the practitioners I meet
are very certain about the most appropriate pedagogical approaches for young children. There is hardly any debate, and there are certainly no heated arguments. Instead, there is a strong, shared sense of the value of play for learning. While those outside the sector might question our focus on play at times, those within the sector are convinced that the way we work is best for our children and their families.

Another interesting difference is in our attitude to demands from the Department for Education, and from Ofsted. Rather than immediately doing as we are asked regardless, early years practitioners seem only too willing to question external demands. If something doesn't feel right - a proposed change in the adult to child ratios, say - the sector is willing to stand together and insist that this is not the way we want to work. You can see this in campaigns on Twitter, such as the #rewindonratios campaign that began when Liz Truss proposed a change to ratios, and the #bigofstedconversation in which practitioners asked that Ofsted communicate directly with practitioners to improve its relationship with the sector.

With the latest change involving an increase in 'free' hours for working parents, the sector is once again working together, to insist that these hours are properly funded. The Pre-School Learning Alliance and other similar organisations speak out for us, helping us push for a fair rate of funding. The power of our united voice means that the ball has been batted firmly into the Government's court - it needs to respond to what we say, because we all stand together. Even though the sector is so poorly funded, and practitioners are so poorly paid, we are not in it for the money. We are in it for the children, and we are united in our determination to do the very best we possibly can, for the families we serve.