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Few disagree that the Early Years Workforce Strategy provides a comprehensive analysis of the barriers to workforce progression in the early years – but some say there isn’t enough funding to back it up. In the section on quality improvement, the dedicated early years funding promised in the strategy is not now dedicated.
The strategy promised up to £3m funding in 2017/18 and 2018/19, and up to £1.5m in 2019/20 to expand relationships between schools and early years providers at a local level, in order to raise standards of teaching and learning. However, according to Lesley Curtis, head teacher of Outstanding-rated Everton Nursery School and Family Centre in Liverpool, and National Teaching School Council representative with a responsibility for early years, this funding is not now ringfenced for the early years.
‘The funding has been moved to the Strategic School Improvement Fund (SSIF), and can be applied to by local authorities and academies as well as teaching schools, but not by private or voluntary early years settings,’ she says. ‘The funding is not specifically for the early years workforce.’
Ms Curtis raised concerns about the disappearance of the promised funding with the Department for Education, and believes this resulted in the addition of new eligibility criteria in the third round of SSIF funding, which has more of a focus on early years than the previous two rounds. The new section (E15) allows schools to apply when certain criteria are met on disadvantage in the EYFS cohort and underachievement in meeting EYFS goals, and can be used to fund work with early years settings – but applications closed on 20 April. ‘There is no other funding available for schools to work with the PVI sector, so I have been encouraging them to use the SSIF money to build work with PVI providers,’ says Ms Curtis.
The DfE confirms that the SSIF is the main vehicle for driving forward work around sector-led quality improvement, and this means there is now more money available. A spokesman says: ‘This work is primarily being taken forward as part of the SSIF, and there is potential for significantly more than the £4.5m referred to in the Workforce Strategy to be distributed for the benefit of children in the early years. We clarified that in round three of the fund, proposals can include work with early years providers.’
The Government also points to a new £20m fund announced in the Social Mobility Action Plan for professional development to support children’s early language and numeracy. Stella Ziolkowski, NDNA’s director of quality and workforce development, says: ‘We know that announcements have been made with regards to £50m being made available for more schools-based provision [on top of the £20m mentioned above] and that £26m has been set aside for school-led hubs. However, it is not clear how this fits with the strategy. As yet the DfE has not clearly communicated its intentions of how sector-led quality improvement within the Workforce Strategy is to be delivered.’
Ms Curtis believes there is a gap between the strategy’s focus on the role of teaching schools in delivering sector-led improvement and the lack of action since it was published. ‘It was refreshing to see in print an opportunity for teachers to work with providers to make an impact on the workforce,’ she says. ‘But changes to ministers, civil servants and policy have resulted in a change of direction. This was a missed opportunity.’
‘RUN ON GOOD WILL’
Ms Curtis was involved in developing Early Years Hubs around the country, bringing together PVI settings with nursery schools and teaching schools to share expertise. ‘That broke down lots of barriers,’ she says. ‘I was hoping the DfE would roll that out further. Early Years Hubs are still going, but a lot of their work is being run on good will.’
Lil Newton is head of Highfield Nursery School and Children’s Centre in Ipswich, and West Ipswich Teaching School lead. ‘We had an NCTL grant in 2014 to develop a network of early years providers, and we have continued to link up with them and schools to share training and expertise,’ she says. ‘The networks are still going but they are not as strong as they used to be because there is no funding to train people together.’
The Bradford Early Years Hub has developed strong links with private and voluntary providers in West Bradford, and offers training ‘by practitioners for practitioners’. Andrea Layzell, workforce development officer at St Edmund’s Nursery School and Children’s Centre, a National Teaching School, is behind the development of the PVI network. ‘About two and a half years ago I visited every PVI setting in West Bradford to discuss the issues they were facing and their training needs,’ she says. ‘We built on those contacts to develop an email group.’ Some quality improvement work such as visits to rooms and advice is offered for free, while charges are made for workshops and CPD courses.
‘We try to facilitate the idea of a network, visiting each other’s settings,’ says Anne-Marie Merifield, executive head teacher of St Edmund’s Nursery School and Children’s Centre. ‘With some settings we are less successful: we send information out but don’t get a response. However, there is a growing inclination to be more open, as more providers recognise that sharing practice is useful.’
The hub is not supported financially by the local authority and any funding gained is piecemeal. ‘It has become a very different field, everything now is about applying for grants and it is a hard process,’ says Ms Merifield. ‘The Government has to think about how to ensure quality by making funding available without the laborious process of continually applying to different funding streams.’
ONE WAY STREET?
The NDNA’s Ms Ziolkowski calls for any teaching school network model to recognise the value that PVI settings can bring. ‘Private providers who are Good and Outstanding should be financially supported to teach and help others, including schools. It is essential that decision-makers understand that lessons can be learnt both ways.’
An example of this is work carried out in Suffolk to support children struggling with emotional difficulties. ‘We ran training around developmental movement play,’ says Ms Barton. ‘Pre-schools showed the strongest practice, and some became centres of delivery: a lead setting would support other settings to develop the practice. As children moved from pre-schools which had used the method to schools which did not, [those] schools eventually changed their practice with the support of pre-schools.’
The Early Years National Funding Formula gives local authorities the option of rewarding settings employing graduate leaders with extra funding. However, the supplement is not offered by all authorities; it can also only be used to reward qualifications and not Ofsted ratings. Ms Merifield says it is not available in West Bradford, and Suffolk does not offer the supplement either.
‘The DfE must ensure that improvement must be led by exemplary early years providers and the funding set aside for improvement must also be distributed across all exemplary provision within the early years sector,’ says Ms Ziolkowski. ‘PVI nursery engagement is essential in this.’
In the strategy the Government also said it would ‘support the development of “buy back” models for quality improvement services in some local authority areas, whereby early years settings purchase support’. The sector is dubious about the effectiveness of this: in its response to the consultation on the funding formula, Early Education said, ‘A market model where providers buy back the services they need (such as CPD) has not proved effective, especially when funding is tight and providers feel it is not sufficient to cover the costs of CPD, and/or where they have no incentive to use funds to improve quality.’
What did the Workforce Strategy say?
The DfE said it would:
- expand relationships between schools and early years providers via the teaching schools network. ‘Up to £3m funding in 2017/18 and 2018/19 and up to £1.5m in 2019/20 will be allocated to meet local needs,’ the strategy said
- support the development of ‘buy back’ models for quality improvement services in some local authority areas, particularly in areas facing challenges such as rurality
- seek to achieve a geographical spread when identifying teaching schools and local authorities to take part in the quality improvement work, with disadvantaged areas a priority.
