The Evaluation of the Graduate Leader Fund found that EYPs played a key role in promoting and driving improvements within settings, particularly in relation to the EYFS and other practitioners' interaction with children.
Interviews with EYPs, managers and nursery staff showed there were three key factors that affected the way the EYP was able to effectively lead the EYFS and improve practice. These were: leadership skills; involvement in management; and the extent to which the role and remit of the EYP was defined and agreed. These three elements combined to create the most effective EYP role in driving improvement and leading practice in settings.
Study co-author Helen Ranns, who interviewed EYPs, managers and nursery staff for the research, said, 'EYPs felt that you needed to be a manager to really make changes in a setting. Because EYPs do not have a defined role, they felt that being a deputy manager or a room leader would give them the authority to make changes. Other staff didn't really know where EYPs fitted into the nursery hierarchy and often went to the manager first for clarification if the EYP asked them to do something.
'EYPs also expressed a desire to be able to move around the setting more so that they could make changes in baby rooms. They felt that confining them to working with mainly pre-school children was stifling their opportunities to make changes throughout the nursery.
'There was also a universally held concern about the future of EYPs, and a view that without clear career progression and better pay, many EYPs would go into teaching or end up working in local authority settings.'
Ms Ranns added, 'With the Early Intervention Grant not ringfenced and without the same level of funding, it will be tricky for local authorities to decide on the best use of money - if it's not going to be used to fund EYP salaries, where will EYPs go?'
What EYPs said
'I've started trying to develop numeracy in the setting, but sometimes feel held back with my ideas.' EYP
'I think as a manager you have more oomph. The staff listen to you more and you can't get away from that.' EYP and deputy manager
'I think NVQ members of staff haven't got a clue as to why we do anything. I don't want to sit there and bombard them with theories but they need to understand why we do it, and about schemas, and all those very important theories, and why we're doing what we're doing.' Manager EYP
'One of the first things that the staff said to me was, "Thank God you're here, now we can make these changes." Because for a long time they wanted it to be more free for the children to lead.'
- Researchers from the University of Oxford, the National Centre for Social Research and the Institute for Education were commissioned by the previous Government to carry out the study in private, voluntary and independent nurseries. Read more about the findings here.
