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At the London Early Years Foundation, which has been providing services to impoverished families since the turn of the century, the central mission is to ensure that no child misses out on a good education because of his or her background.
But now, in a novel move, this central mission has been turned into an early childhood studies degree that could be rolled out to the wider workforce in future.
According to June O’Sullivan, LEYF chief executive, the degree is suitable for those who want to work with people from disadvantaged backgrounds, or who are community-minded and work in an area of disadvantage, and are passionate about social mobility. With more than half of LEYF nurseries being Outstanding, versus a national average of 17 per cent, is there something here that other groups can learn from?
LEYF has teamed up with the University of Wolverhampton to offer a branded foundation degree and top-up from September.
Helen Perkins, senior lecturer in childhood and family studies at the university, says university staff were keen to get on board because ‘we felt degrees don’t always teach what we want practitioners to know. Many degrees have the theory but aren’t connected to any particular philosophy.’
The degree will be offered alongside early childhood studies degrees at the university. ‘We hope to see it alongside Montessori and other curriculum-focused approaches in the future,’ Dr Perkins explains.
A UNIQUE PHILOSOPHY?
To understand LEYF’s philosophy, it helps to know a bit about the organisation’s history. LEYF, which employs nearly 700 staff and has 37 settings in London, is a social enterprise, reinvesting profits back into the business. It was set up in 1903 as the Westminster Health Society, introducing some of the first health education and training to the borough, plus clinics for maternal and child welfare and training in domestic skills.
This translates into a pedagogy that says good practice should recognise every community, family and child as unique and as bringing a wide range of life experiences, skills and interests. Another central part is the belief that each member of staff should be treated as a leader.
The recent decision to name all its staff ‘teachers’ reflects this, with Ms O’Sullivan saying she made the step because she was ‘sick of being held back by a system that divides us by the snobbery of qualifications’. She says the move is to ‘describe the staff in terms of what they do’, adding that the teaching is ‘play-based, woven with care and enriched with emotional intelligence’.
In the words of Ben Clay, pedagogy manager at LEYF, the new degree is ‘about deepening understanding of what it means to be a social enterprise, and enabling all children to achieve, whether they are from a green leafy suburb or an area of high deprivation. We have nurseries in both.
‘Often, communities where the highest level of childcare is needed receive the lowest. We want to buck the trend and provide the highest quality to children who need it the most. Settings, councils and others constantly face the issue of how to close the gap. This degree helps them to address it.’
LEYF puts its money where its mouth is, attempting to close the gap by offering around half its places completely free to parents by using the free entitlements and subsidising them and any additional hours with income from its more profitable nurseries. This amounts to around 1,500 children, as the organisation caters for 3,000 children in total. Funding is also available for those families with longstanding places who find themselves in severe financial difficulties.
Still, many organisations will devise bespoke training programmes. But why go to all the trouble of launching a degree?
Partly it has been about better staff retention, says Mr Clay. ‘With staff turnover difficult to maintain, the LEYF pedagogy and degree are important to reward and recognise the teachers we have.
‘For us as an organisation, it is a no-brainer. At our heart is the child, but our most vital resource is our staff.’
LEYF PEDAGOGY
The seven areas are:
Leading for a culture of excellence – recognising all staff are leaders at every level. Focuses on staff leading changes and adapting to provide the best possible learning environments and experiences for families.
Spiral curriculum – recognising every community, family and child as unique and as bringing a wide range of life experiences, skills and interests as well as needs. LEYF teachers follow children’s interests and deliver the EYFS through a play-based approach.
Enabling environments – recognising the environment as the third teacher and using a clear LEYF approach to creating the best possible environments to suit each stage of a child’s development. This includes the environments provided outside the classrooms.
Harmonious relationships – includes the importance of attachment theory between children and adults and how positive relationships can support a child’s development, including between teachers and parents, among staff and with communities.
Safe, fit and healthy – ensuring teachers, children and their families understand how important diet, exercise and lifestyles are in staying healthy.
Home learning – recognising the importance of the quality of the home learning environment and how it can dramatically accelerate a child’s development and life opportunities. What parents do is more important than who they are.
Multi-generational approach – also known as widening cultural capital by providing children and families with as wide a range of experiences as possible. By interacting and forming relationships with a diverse range of people, cultures and lifestyles, communities come together.
THE DEGREE
What: Part of the LEYF higher education staff development programme. All modules have been developed by both LEYF and university staff. Modules include the LEYF pedagogy, ‘growing up in the 21st century’, ‘Power, inclusion and diversity’ and ‘families and communities in context’.
How: Part-time three-year foundation degree with optional top-up of one year for full degree qualification.
Launches: September 2018 with pilot group of 12 LEYF teachers, rolling out to wider sector in 2019.
Assessment: Practice-based assessments, essays and presentations.
Location: Taught on-site at LEYF’s training facility in London, with lectures delivered by LEYF teachers as well as lecturers from the university; graduation ceremonies held at the University of Wolverhampton.
