This year partnerships will need to meet the requirement set by the Department for Education and Skills for every non-maintained early years setting delivering the Foundation Stage to have access to support from a QTS (qualified teacher status) teacher.
Many Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships (EYDCPs) have chosen to link settings with local schools. Others are employing extra early years advisory teachers to work specifically with the non-maintained sector.
In Lewisham, practitioners already had access to four full-time early years advisers with QTS through Lewisham Early Years Advice and Resource Network, providing support and training for staff in the private, community and voluntary sectors and nursery/ reception classes in schools. With just over 100 settings receiving the nursery education grant in Lewisham, seven more teachers were needed to meet the DfES ratio of one teacher to every ten non-maintained settings.
Getting started
Advisers in Lewisham hit upon an innovative solution. They decided to develop a network of eight early years specialists to provide opportunities for staff from schools and non-maintained settings to share good practice. This would be based on the Leading Literacy and Numeracy Teachers model, now the Primary Strategy.
Headteachers were asked to nominate exemplary Foundation Stage practitioners, and in March last year the Leading Foundation Stage Teachers (LFST) network was launched with money from Education Development Plan Priority 1 funds and Lewisham EYDCP, with a remit to raise standards and achievement in early years.
The budget is small and only covers the supply cover cost of the LFST. Visiting schools must arrange supply cover for the visiting teacher.
There are two main aspects to the network - the work with teachers in schools, and the work with practitioners in non-maintained settings. A training day was held to identify roles. One of the most interesting aspects was giving the teachers a clear picture of the range of settings that children who are not in nursery classes might attend, as they sometimes lacked knowledge of the diverse nature of Foundation Stage provision outside schools.
Cluster groups
Each LFST is allocated a 'cluster' of settings to work alongside the advisory team, with the emphasis on sharing good practice and facilitating smooth transitions between settings.
The partnership was clear that cluster groups should develop to meet the needs of the practitioners involved. The only expectations were that each teacher should arrange one cluster meeting each term, give early years staff opportunities to visit the school during term-time and offer to visit each setting.
The work began with LFSTs inviting representatives from each non-maintained setting in the cluster to an initial meeting at the school. Teachers were offered support from a member of the LEARN team with many choosing to join with another teacher locally for the initial meeting. The numbers varied, but it was clear that all the practitioners shared an enthusiasm to establish closer links between settings and schools.
Lee Manor Primary School is the only school in the authority with two LFSTs. Joan Thurgar and Rachel Curtin are both experienced reception class teachers who have taught at the school for three years. Ms Curtin has also worked as a qualified nursery nurse in a private day nursery.
They have enjoyed opportunities to discuss issues in depth with practitioners and the chance to exchange ideas. Their visits to nurseries are very useful. 'It gives us both an insight into the different types of settings children are coming from. Parents have also found it very reassuring,' Ms Thurgar says.
Work with teachers
LFSTs were able to learn from the experiences of the Leading Numeracy and Literacy Teachers. A handbook was developed to clarify the roles and expectations of the teachers and schools involved. All LFST support is based in host schools. Visits usually involve a morning session, with an initial discussion followed by classroom observation of a lesson taken by the LFST and a feedback session.
The visiting teacher chooses to focus on one of three areas - either teaching and learning, the environment and classroom organisation or planning and record keeping - and then concentrates on an aspect of that area. This could be an overview of an area of learning, or something more specific, such as settling-in procedures, behaviour management or special needs. Each LFST assesses their confidence in these areas, so the visiting teacher can be matched up with the right LFST, according to their expertise.
Where to now?
The cluster groups are beginning to establish themselves as unique networks, which support the needs of their members. The visits to LFSTs by teachers and practitioners from non-maintained settings continue. The pilot ends this month (March 2004) but the EYDCP will continue to fund the work with the non-maintained sector. Money to support the visits by teachers to host schools has also been guaranteed until July 2005, although the scheme is so successful, it is likely to become self-funding. For the cost of only one day's supply cover (half a day for the LFST, and half a day for the visitor), a school can have intensive one-to-one support from a Foundation Stage specialist.
The LFSTs are enthusiastic about developing closer links with their cluster settings. This January the first children joined the reception classes since the network began. Staff feel more informed after meeting many of the children in the feeder early years settings. An unexpected advantage has been improved communication with parents. Teachers begin conversations with informed comments about the child's nursery experience, which has delighted parents.
