6 Workforce and leadership
The workforce
138. Children's centres employ a range
of staff, including early years specialists, family support workers
and health and social care professionals. Although many issues
were raised with us about the workforce, we recognise that some
of these were specific to early years workers and not necessarily
applicable to all staff in children's centres. The Minister was
right to point out that early years qualifications in particular
are "mainly an issue for the 96% of childcare that is not
provided in children's centres".[290]
Nevertheless, there are some wider lessons which can be drawn
and which are directly applicable to children's centres.
139. Historically, the entry requirements
to the early years sector have been very low, with many qualified
only to NVQ level 2. As Susan Gregory of Ofsted told us, "you
need a higher qualification at entry level to work with animals
than you do to work with young children."[291]
Linked to this, perhaps as both cause and effect, the status
and pay of early years workers have also been low, a point acknowledged
by the Government in its proposals on More Great Childcare.[292]
To us, the Minister stressed that "we have the biggest gap
in salaries between those who work in nurseries and those who
work in schools of any country in Western Europe". She argued
strongly that: "That is wrong, because we know that early
education is at least as important as later-on education".[293]
The impact of low status is felt beyond attracting high quality
recruits into the profession: Naomi Eisenstadt described how the
perceived low status of children's centre staff can create a barrier
to successful multi-agency working, adding that "if you do
not have status within the community and you ring the health agency,
they are not going to ring you back."[294]
140. During the course of our inquiry,
the Government set out its proposals to reduce the number of different
early years qualifications, to improve the quality of training
and to raise the status and quality of the workforce by replacing
the current Early Years Professional Status qualification with
a new grade of Early Years Teacher and Early Years Educator.
Starting in 2013, Early Years Educators will train at level 3
(A level equivalent) and need to have good GCSEs in English and
maths. Early Years Educators will act as assistants to Early Years
Teachers and, over time, the Government expects that group childcare
will "increasingly be delivered by Early Years Teachers and
Early Years Educators". Early Years Teachers will be graduates
and will need to meet the same entry requirements and pass the
same skills tests as trainee school teachers, but will specialise
in early childhood development. They will not, however, be accorded
Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), in the same way as primary and
secondary teachers.[295]
141. A further development is Teach
First for the Early Years which extends the model which has been
successful in attracting high-achieving graduates into schools
to the early years sector. There is currently a pilot in London
involving 16 teachers but the Minister was keen to see it expand.[296]
She saw the achievement of "a much greater status for early
years teachers" as "the whole point of the Teach First
for the early years programme".[297]
142. The Minister told us that Charlie
Taylor, Chief Executive of the National College for Teaching and
Leadership (NCTL), was working "to create a 0 to 18 teaching
workforce".[298]
She stressed that she wanted to see "a much greater consistency
across the teaching workforce and much less of a silo between
the early years and primary school".[299]
On the other hand, she also stressed that the reason why early
years teachers were not being offered QTS was because "to
move that early years professional to being of teacher status
would create a cadre of people whose terms and conditions and
salary expectations would not fit with what we have got at the
moment".[300]
Instead, the policy was to move "towards teachers and early
years teachers having the same status over a period of years".[301]
Raising the level of qualification of early years teachers to
the same level as primary school teachers was one of the "stepping
stones" to this end:[302]
"If we suddenly created QTS teachers who had the same terms
and conditions as teachers, they simply would not be able to be
employed in the PVI sector, so we defeat the object".[303]
143. Evidence from Ofsted inspections
and from the EPPE longitudinal study shows a positive link between
the qualification levels of staff and the quality of early education
provided.[304] Under
its new inspection framework, Ofsted will report on the qualifications
of staff. The Minister regarded this as "very important"
because it "will signal to parents that the quality of staff
is a critical factor".[305]
144. The Government is right to
want to increase qualifications of the workforce but difficulties
remain with status and pay. The message that Early Years Teachers
are not equal to teachers in schools is strong and unjust. It
is not enough for the Minister to articulate a vision of equality
with other teachers-she has to set out a course of action with
milestones on the way to a position where equal pay attracts equal
quality. We recommend that the Department for Education set out
such a strategy. We also recommend that an evaluation of the impact
of the introduction of Teach First to the early years sector be
carried out before the programme is expanded beyond the current
pilot.
Training and development
145. Professor Melhuish told us that
"there is certainly strong evidence that better trained staff
do provide better quality services, which have an impact on child
outcomes".[306]
Taken as a whole, staff in Sure Start centres are better qualified
than in the PVI sector, with one in five in children's centre
nurseries having a degree.[307]
The value of this was underlined by the head of a children's centre
in Corby where a number of staff had taken BA and MA courses.
She described the "enormous" impact on the centre "in
terms of research on us as a setting [...] because there is a
reflective conversation and dialogue that takes place".[308]
146. The NCB recommended that children's
centre staff should "undertake initial training and regular
CPD [Continuing Professional Development] in parental and family
engagement, particularly around disadvantaged and/or vulnerable
families so that they have the skills and confidence to engage
with parents and families".[309]
Sue Owen explained that this should be backed by "training
plans within every setting, in order to identify the skills that
staff have and the career trajectories they want to engage in,
and what the needs of that setting are in terms of the qualifications
of their staff".[310]
There are often training plans held by local authorities but,
given that many centres are in the PVI sector, a new requirement
on each centre to adopt a plan would have to be built into funding
agreements.[311] Ben
Thomas of Unison pointed to issues around limited access to CPD,
including time-off from work, and the introduction of fees for
first level qualifications in NVQ Level 2 and 3.[312]
147. There is an under-utilised source
of expertise and training within the sector in the form of outstanding
and experienced practitioners in the centres. To explore how
to make best use of this resource, Early Years Teaching Centres
have been set up as a two year project, funded by the DfE, to
use skilled practitioners in outstanding children's centres/nursery
schools as trainers for staff in their own and other centres.
The aim is to establish a network of "Early Years Teaching
Schools" along the lines of the Teaching Schools developed
by the school sector. The Minister told us that Charlie Taylor
was looking at "the teaching-school model in early years".[313]
148. Others identified the need for
a career structure within children's centres, not least to assist
retention. Sue Egersdorff explained that "in terms of early
years, it is very difficult to talk to a high calibre graduate
about where they may be and how we can stop them being snaffled
off into primary leadership [...] we need to retain some of them
to be strong advocates and ambassadors for early years".[314]
The Children's Society recommended creating a professional pathway
specifically for children's centre staff who work with disadvantaged
families, for example, an NVQ in family support and outreach,
to raise the status of these workers with other professionals.[315]
To attain the same end, the IPPR recommended a Royal College for
early years practitioners which would be responsible for designing
qualifications, commissioning training and accrediting workers.[316]
Witnesses to our inquiry were generally supportive of the idea
but differed on whether the proposed college should be part of
a College of Teaching or a College of Early Years bringing in
health professionals as well.[317]
Ben Thomas of Unison considered that the discrepancy in pay between
early years teachers and teachers in primary and secondary schools
made a professional college of early years unlikely.[318]
We agree. There needs to be significant development within the
workforce of children's centres before it can be determined whether
early years professionals should be admitted to a separate college
or a college of teaching.
149. CPD is vital and should be
encouraged by all centres. We recommend that the Ofsted inspection
framework include checking that each centre has a training plan
and that the plan is being implemented. We support the development
of Early Years Teaching Centres as an effective way of passing
on best practice and promoting workforce development. Nursery
schools with children's centres should be at the centre of these
hubs. The NCTL should take on a role in developing this and should
also set out a career structure for children centre staff, including
how the new qualifications and other CPD match to this pathway.
The NCTL should also continue their work on systems leadership
in early childhood education and their work on leadership standards
in the early years.
Leadership
150. Dame Clare Tickell told us that
"it is really important that we recognise the importance
of leadership and a high quality of professional person who is
running children's centres in order to have the kinds of conversations
that we need to have".[319]
In this she was supported by several other witnesses, including
Naomi Eisenstadt who cautioned: "never underestimate the
skills you need to run a Sure Start centre [...] we really underestimated
the skills required and how complex it is",[320]
and Caroline Sharp of NFER who described the role of children's
centre leader as "a really difficult and demanding job to
do well."[321]
151. There are no formal entry requirements
for running a children's centre. The ECCE Strand 3 report found
that "There was great variety in the leadership and management
of centres"[322]
but that "academic qualifications appear not to be [the]
key ingredient" of leadership.[323]
Caroline Sharp told us that centre leaders are "drawn from
a diverse range of backgrounds which means that they will not
necessarily have experience or formal training in child development
and/or family support." She concluded that "leadership
training is therefore of considerable importance".[324]
Anne Longfield of 4Children also suggested that "There is
development needed in terms of enabling people to be more entrepreneurial
and enabling them to make partnerships with high status",[325]
while Julie Longworth from Action for Children argued for "managers
with skills in performance management and skills and experience
in safeguarding".[326]
152. The DfE via the National College
runs a National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre
Leadership (NPQICL), designed for leaders of children's centres
delivering integrated services. The qualification is currently
under review and, in early September 2013, Brian Tytherleigh of
the NCTL told us that the college was "waiting for a steer
from policy colleagues to develop that review and the terms of
that review and see where we go next".[327]
We heard much concern about the review. Although it was generally
accepted that the qualification needed updating, particularly
given the change in structures of centres, it was clearly much
valued. Some witnesses considered that it should be made mandatory.[328]
There was also general agreement that it should include face to
face meetings and exchanges, and not be delivered solely online.
Caroline Sharp's research found that "centre leaders wanted
to retain opportunities for reflection and professional exchange."
She concluded that "there is a need to secure the future
pipeline of highly skilled and well-prepared centre leaders."[329]
153. Barnardo's suggested that the National
College was also well-placed to promote system leadership and
that it "could promote and enable networks of national, regional
and local leaders of integrated centre provision to reflect the
parallel school leadership model endorsed by the College".[330]
Vicky Lant explained that this would include enabling children's
centre leaders going to see "terrific exemplars of good practice
and [developing] that in their own provision".[331]
Similarly, a recent report by Policy Exchange recommended that
the NCTL "should develop leadership programmes for future
Children's Centre managers, based on successful models employed
in the school sector such as Teaching Leaders".[332]
154. The Minister told us that "the
right person to manage a children's centre [...] will depend on
the exact nature of the children's centre and how it is focused".[333]
This points to the importance of recognising the changes that
have occurred in the sector and the fact that different skills
will be required in different types of centre. The NPQICL
needs to be overhauled to reflect current practice in children's
centres and then offered widely to new leaders. The course should
retain the much valued elements of professional exchanges and
time for reflection. It is vital that practitioners are involved
in reviewing and designing the qualification.
155. The NCTL should take on the
role of promoting locality leadership to spread best practice
and encourage innovation, as it does in schools.
290 Q812 Back
291
Q299 Back
292
More Great Childcare: Raising quality and giving parents more
choice, DfE (January 2013), p17 Back
293
Q797 Back
294
Q6 Back
295
More Great Childcare, pp22,29 Back
296
Q798 Back
297
Q798 Back
298
Q797 Back
299
Q798 Back
300
Q887 Back
301
Q819 Back
302
Q886 Back
303
Q887 Back
304
See for example Q293 [Susan Gregory] and findings from EPPE Back
305
Q817 Back
306
Q257 Back
307
Q468 Back
308
Q146 [Ellen Wallace] Back
309
Ev 185 Back
310
Q435 Back
311
Q696 Back
312
Q692 Back
313
Q902 Back
314
Q678 Back
315
The Children's Society, Breaking Barriers: How to help children's
centres reach disadvantaged families (2013) Back
316
IPPR, August 2012 Back
317
Qq 657-60 Back
318
Q658 Back
319
Q6 Back
320
Q64 Back
321
Q59.See also Q137 [Christine Whelan] and Q139 [Angela Prodger] Back
322
ECCE Strand 3, p. xxvii Back
323
Ibid, p55 Back
324
Ev 176 Back
325
Q543 [Anne Longfield] Back
326
Q543 [Julie Longworth] Back
327
Q662 Back
328
QQ 663-4 Back
329
Sharp, C., Lord, P., Handscomb, G., Macleod, S., Southcott, C.,
George, N. and Jeffes, J. (2012). Highly Effective Leadership
in Children's Centres. Nottingham: National College for School
Leadership. Back
330
Ev 200 Back
331
Q518 Back
332
Policy Exchange (2013), p 9 Back
333
Q812 Back
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