EARLY YEARS AGENDAAN EVIDENCE-BASED MANIFESTO FOR CHANGE

ABOUT THE PRE-SCHOOL LEARNING ALLIANCE

The Pre-school Learning Alliance is the largest andmost representative early years membership

organisation in England. A registered educationalcharity, we provide high-quality, affordable

childcare and education to support children andfamilies in areas of deprivation throughout the country.

The Alliance represents 14,000 member settings andsupports them to deliver care and learning to over

800,000 families every year. We deliver familylearning projects, offer information and advice,

produce specialist publications, run acclaimed trainingand accreditation schemes and campaign to influence

early years policy and practice.

WE BELIEVE IT’S TIME THAT SECTOR PROFESSIONALS SET THE EARLY YEARS AGENDA – DO YOU AGREE?

With early years and childcare at the top of the political agenda, now is a unique opportunity for the sector to make its voice heard.

Learning does not start at the school gates. The first five years of a child’s life are crucial to their future learning and development, and so the provision of quality early years education and care – alongside positive home learning environments – is vital to the long-term success of society.

But how do we build a high-quality, affordable and – crucially – sustainable sector?

At the Pre-school Learning Alliance, we believe that:

• The needs of the child must always be at the centre of all decision-making

• Policy should be based on an extensive body of evidence, not the personal views of government ministers (or other policy-drivers, such as Ofsted)

• Consulting with the early years sector should be the first step of policy development, not the last

It is vital that the early years sector gets the support that it needs to continue to deliver quality care and learning to those families who need it.

So what do we want from the government?

At the Alliance, we are focusing on three key areas:

• Funding

• Schoolification

• Ofsted

We believe that a quality, affordable, sustainable childcare system must be adequately funded, must deliver age-appropriate learning opportunities, and must be able to rely on a fair and consistent inspection system.

Our manifesto focuses on the facts, not the rhetoric, and lays out an evidence-based argument for change. Let us know your thoughts at feedback@pre-school.org.uk.

All three- and four-year-olds, and 40% of the most disadvantaged two-year-olds, in England are entitled to 15 hours of free early education every week for 38 weeks of the year. This is to be extended to 30 hours a week for all three- and four-year-olds from working families.

However, for many years now, the hourly rate of funding that providers receive has not been enough to cover the hourly cost of delivering places.

This has left many childcare businesses struggling to stay afloat, and some forced to raise the cost of paid-for hours to plug this gap.

It has also meant that many childcare business owners cannot afford to pay staff the wages they deserve, making it difficult to recruit and retain practitioners with higher qualifications, while others struggle to meet the cost of training and continuous professional development.

In the lead-up to the 2015 election, government policy focused on addressing childcare cost rises through tax breaks for parents. However, we believe that this is a short-term solution to a long-term problem that does not tackle the root cause of cost rises.

FUNDING

THE EVIDENCE

• Government funding only covers the cost of four out of every five PVI places under the free entitlement scheme (Ceeda / Pre-school Learning Alliance)

• 29% of local authorities in England have not made any change to base rates of free entitlement funding for PVI providers in the last three to four years

• 5% have lowered their base rate of funding

• 70% of local authorities haven’t collected any data from providers on the cost of delivering free childcare places in the last three to four years (Alliance Freedom of Information Act request)

FACT VS FICTION

The government previously claimed that it is ‘nonsense’ to suggest that the free entitlement scheme is underfunded.

In response, we asked them, via a Freedom of Information Act request, to prove this – by providing figures on how much it costs to deliver funded places in total and how this compares to overall government funding for the scheme.

But despite us going back to the Department for Education FOUR times, they were unable to provide any data to back up this claim.

DID YOU KNOW?

The House of Lords Affordable Childcare

Committee said that “there is legitimate

cause for concern about the uneven allocation

of funding for free early education places in the

PVI sector” and recommended a government

review of the current allocation of

resources.

NEXT STEPS

We are calling on the government to:

• work with the Alliance to undertake a full, in-depth review of the free entitlement funding system, including a large-scale analysis of the cost of delivering funded places

• introduce a statutory requirement on local authorities to collect annual data from local providers on the cost of delivering free entitlement places

• undertake an annual review of free entitlement funding levels and how they compare to the cost of delivering places using data collated from local authorities, with a report published on the findings

• ringfence the Early Years funding block within the Dedicated Schools Grant

We believe that children have a basic right to play, explore, and experience the wonders of the world they are growing up in. Academic research has shown that broad-based early years provision, focusing on socialisation, language development and physical activity rather than a narrow focus on literacy and numeracy, helps children to make better academic progress later on.

However, in recent months and years, the education sector has seen a notable shift towards a more formal, rigid approach to early learning – often referred as ‘schoolification’. Within this, there are two key policies of particular concern.

1. Making it easier for schools to take two-year-olds

Under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, primary schools offering nursery provision no longer need to register or be inspected separately as early years providers to take two-year-olds. The aim of this legislative change is to encourage more schools to take children of this age.

2. Introducing baseline assessments at the start of reception, and making the EYFS Profile non-statutory

The proposed tests will take place in the first term of reception, and are intended to ‘test school effectiveness’ by providing a baseline for children’s progress. These assessments, which focus primarily on language, literacy and numeracy, will be delivered by government-approved commercial providers.

The Alliance is fully opposed to the introduction of baseline tests. We believe that they would:

• cause children to be wrongly labelled as ‘failing’, and damage their self-esteem

• risk encouraging teachers to teach to the ‘test’, and adopt a narrow focus on literacy and numeracy above broader skills

• create a stressful environment for children during the crucial settling-in period

SCHOOLIFICATION

Summer-born admissions

We believe it is parents that are best

placed to understand the needs of their

own child, and so it should be for them, not

admissions authorities, to decide whether or

not to defer their child’s entry into reception

year. We continue to back the work of the

Summer Born Campaign in this regard.

THE EVIDENCE

• Baseline assessments were previously introduced – and then scrapped – by the government. In 2000, when consulting on replacing the previous baseline assessment with the Foundation Stage Profile, the then-Qualification and Curriculum Authority said: “At this age, observations leading to professional and parental judgements are the main way in which the assessments are made, because very little ... can be based on pencil and paper outcomes from standardised activities.”

• The National Union of Teachers unanimously voted to work towards a boycott of baseline assessments at their 2015 Easter conference.

• The majority of those who responded to the official government consultation on baseline reception assessments were opposed to the proposal (51% against compared to 34% in favour).

This is a screenshot from one of the approved baseline assessments. Do you think this is an appropriate way to assess a child of four?

NEXT STEPS

We are calling on the government to:

• implement measures to monitor school-based provision for two-year-olds and ensure it delivers age-appropriate care and learning opportunities to the chil-dren attending

• focus investment on the development of the existing network of experienced PVI providers (as opposed to the current emphasis on developing provision in schools)

• scrap the proposed baseline assessment and reinstate the EYFS Profile’s stat-utory status. The Alliance continues to actively support the work of the Better Without Baseline campaign in opposing the introduction of the test – find out more at www.betterwithoutbaseline.org.uk

A strong early years sector needs a robust, reliable inspection framework. Over recent years, however, confidence in Ofsted has fallen following increasingly frequent reports of unfair judgements, underqualified inspectors and generally unpleasant inspection experiences.

The Alliance welcomes recent steps taken by the inspectorate to address provider concerns, such as the move to scrap non-urgent complaint-driven inspections. However, other areas, such as the decision to continue outsourcing early years inspections to third-party contractors, as well as the extension of the time limit for post-registration inspections from seven months to 30, are still of great concern.

With the introduction of the Common Inspection Framework in September 2015, the need for a fair, consistent early years inspection framework, upheld by experienced, qualified inspectors, is more important than ever.

THE EVIDENCE

• 66% of all formal complaints against Ofsted, and 72% of internal review complaints, come from early years providers (Ofsted Annual Report and Accounts 2013-2014).

• Less than 1% of early years providers are successful in getting an Ofsted judgement overturned after going through the current complaints process (Pre-school Learning Alliance Freedom of Information Act request).

• The proportion of providers downgraded following complaint-driven inspections is nearly double the downgrade rate for all inspections (29% vs 16%) (Pre-school Learning Alliance Freedom of Information Act request).

OFSTED

NEXT STEPS

The Alliance is calling for a fundamental review of the early years inspection system. In particular, we would like to see:

• early years inspections brought in-house

• the introduction of independent provider representation at both the quality assurance stage of inspections, and the first stage of the complaints/appeals process.

• the implementation of paid-for re-inspections, as legislated for by the Children and Families Act 2014

“Over the past year, we’ve seen policy

after policy launched without meaningful

consultation with those directly affected.

We believe that it’s time that practitioners -

professionals with the knowledge, experience

and passion for early years - are placed at the

centre of the early years debate.”

Neil LeitchChief executive

Pre-school Learning Alliance

A united sector is a strong sector. We are grateful to the following individuals and organisations for supporting the Early Years Agenda

manifesto:

“PACEY is supporting the Early Years Agenda because we share its concerns and believe the early years sector is stronger when organisations and individuals work together” Liz Bayram, Pacey

“I endorse any endeavour in early years that, like the Alliance’s post-election manifesto, has at its heart evidence from research and the experience and expertise of those who are engaged in the sector. It is vital that government listens to the views of those who work in or represent the sector including academics whose research shapes the experiences we give to children. Policy works best where professionals are involved in its design and implementation. Children deserve a good start in life; the experiences they have in their early years shape the adults they become. It is important that they are helped to get that start through a properly-funded early years system based on acknowledged best practice. The Alliance manifesto calls for government to listen to the sector to achieve such a system.” Liz Elsom, early years consultant

“The time has come for early years practitioners to re-professionalise their work after decades of relentless de-professionalisation perpetrated by all political parties. This admirable manifesto offers recommendations that are child-centred (not politician-centred), evidence-based (not ideology-driven), and collaborative (not imposed) - surely this isn’t too much to ask for? It invites politicians to listen to professionals, and fundamentally to change their approach — and for our children’s sake, I wish them the wisdom, open mindedness and sound sense to do just that.”

Richard House, C.Psychol., formerly Universities of Winchester (Early Childhood) and Roehampton (Psychology); co-founder of the Too Much Too Soon, Early Childhood Action and Open EYE campaigns

“We agree that it’s vitally important for government to listen to both professionals and parents, and to ensure that policy reflects the best interests of children. Many ministers are now rightly concerned about the summer born issue, especially those children who are made to miss their reception year at school, or another year of their education. We are hopeful that this issue will be resolved.” Pauline Hull, campaigner, Summer Born Campaign Group

“Both the EU and OECD recognise that for policies to be more effective and relevant they should be informed by the direct knowledge and competencies of citizens and civil society organisations. The Alliance’s Early Years Agenda contains well-reasoned calls to action aimed at promoting the quality of children’s experiences in early years provision and their longer-term developmental outcomes. They deserve a wide hearing and careful consideration by the new government.” Eva Lloyd, Professor of Early Childhood at University of East London

SECTOR ENDORSEMENTS

“Early Education endorses the Early Years Agenda as we believe that a high-quality early years sector must be properly funded: private, voluntary, independent and maintained providers all need funding at levels that allows them to recruit, retain and develop high quality staff in order to deliver the quality early education which will make a difference to children’s futures. We support children’s rights to a rich play-based experience in the early years, and are concerned about the distorting impacts of initiatives such as baseline assessment and the phonics test which create counterproductive pressures to narrow and formalise children’s learning. We call on government to work with the early years sector and draw on its extensive knowledge and experience to deliver policies that really work for young children and families.” Beatrice Merrick, Early Education

“TACTYC fully endorses the call from the Pre-school Learning Alliance for the needs of the child to be always at the centre of decision-making, for policy to be based on independent research evidence, and for genuine consultation with the early years sector at the beginning of all policy development.” Jane Payler / Wendy Scott / Nancy Stewart, TACTYC

“The Early Years Agenda is a compelling read and will, I hope, promote discussion about the future direction of early years in England.” Penny Tassoni, early years expert, author and trainer

“The Early Years Agenda highlights three important areas of concern in relation to the current support by the UK government for early childhood education, and proposes well-evidenced changes which need to be made to establish high quality provision throughout this sector. The concerns articulated about under-funding, about schoolification of the curriculum, and about the damaging impact of poor-quality Ofsted inspections, are real and significant. The manifesto presents a clear and evidence-based case for radical change, and argues very persuasively for the needs of the child to be at the centre of early childhood education policy.”Dr David Whitebread, Senior Lecturer in Psychology & Education, University of Cambridge

“We find ourselves at an interesting point in educational history. We esteem evidence-based practice, yet there is much evidence we continue to ignore. This includes evidence on the critical importance of play, affection, and relationships during the early years of a child’s life. The Early Years Agenda manifesto published by the Pre-school Learning Alliance attempts to get us to look again at this evidence. How do we help politicians, professionals, and the public to grasp the importance of the insights it offers us? If we do not honour children’s biological need for playful, emotionally secure relationships, we damage not only them. We also block our ability to create the society we tell ourselves we are striving for.” Suzanne Zeedyk, Honorary Fellow, University of Dundee

WANT TO SUPPORT THE ALLIANCE’S EARLY YEARS AGENDA?

You can sign up to endorse the manifesto by visiting www.pre-school.org.uk/endorse

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