Boosting quality of Early Years childcare professionals is vital say 4Children as they welcome Nutbrown Review Recommendations

4Children are happy to welcome the recommendations set out in today’s review by Professor Cathy Nutbrown into how to promote quality early years provision, ‘Foundations for Quality’.

The Review is proposing:

• Increased qualifications for those working in nurseries and for childminders.
• Literacy and numeracy to level 2 as the minimum entry requirement for any childcare course.
• Higher quality training for the childcare workforce.
• A new Early Years Qualified Teacher Status to grow the pedagogical leadership within the sector.

If the Government accepts the Review’s recommendations, early education and childcare could begin to enjoy the status of primary or secondary school teaching, rather than being viewed as a career where qualifications and professional development are of lesser importance

If properly implemented, this review could lead to a radical change in the early education and childcare sector – offering training and qualifications which are fit for purpose; challenging and rewarding job opportunities; with better-informed and better-developed staff who can intervene early to give children the support they need to grow and develop.

It offers to the workforce a strong professional identity,  which will be valued by parents and  wider society as well as stressing the importance of early childhood and how it should be understood , respected and valued in its’ own right. 

The review offers a long term vision for the early years workforce with quality at the heart and supports the early years sector in driving its’ own improvement and reaching for high but achievable standards .

Crucially, these changes will require more investment – from government, both local and national, from providers and employers, and from staff themselves. Training will take longer, wages will need to increase, and investment in the quality of the early years workforce will need to grow.

Anne Longfield OBE, 4Children Chief Executive, had the following to say of the reforms:

All the research shows that it is the quality of early years provision that makes the difference for children – especially for disadvantaged children who need help the most.  Excellent early years workers can have a real impact on a child’s life chances – with long term benefits through school and beyond.

For too long, the early years has been seen as a lower status career option.  This Review sets out a clear plan to raise the status of the sector and improve the quality of early years provision and in doing so increase the support for children.

Clearly the role of parents is also critical in the early years and we are pleased to see the government today publish the parent’s guide for the early years foundation stage. Along with better qualified staff and parents with the right support we can work together to get the early years foundation stage of to a flying start for our children.

If the Government wants to give children the best start in life it must accept the proposals and make the investment needed. This review presents a challenge to the government, but it is one to which ministers should rise.”

The full report can be viewed here

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