I find it incredibly difficult to understand why there is such a stigmaattached to any educational position - almost to the point of 'dumbingdown' and partly removing educational roles' importance.
I am a second-year BA Hon Early Childhood Studies student with a passionfor child psychology and have endured giggles, patronising smiles andnods as well as the occasional, 'Aw, well isn't that nice'.
I honestly don't think my degree is taken seriously by the generalpublic. Yet I believe specialist play workers, nursery nurses andteaching assistants all suffer from this form of degrading attitude. Howmuch more important can an educational role be?
You are not only caring for the most precious thing in many families'lives, but educating them, which will help form economic stability forthe future.
Charlotte Baker, Derby
- Our letter of the week wins 30 worth of books
A RISK WORTH TAKING
I enjoyed the Forest School picture on the cover of the 18 Decemberissue of Nursery World. I note that a reader complained that gloves werenot used (Letters, 27 January). I suppose they happened not to noticethat the blade guard was on the saw, making it impossible to cutanything, even hands, without gloves on.
Keep on showing and talking about risk!
Name and address supplied
START CHATTERING
We know from the recently launched Hello campaign that misconceptionsexist around speech and language development, and more information isvitally needed. Over one million children in the UK have long-termspeech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and their difficultiesare often 'hidden'.
I CAN, the children's communication charity, runs the ChatterboxChallenge, which is the first milestone event of the Hello campaign. Weare now in the first Chatterbox Challenge month and nurseries,pre-schools and children's groups across the UK will be using this todevelop their communication skills. The Chatterbox Challenge will alsobe attempting to break a Guinness World Record on 1 March.
The Chatterbox Challenge is a brilliant way for families to get involvedin the national year and make a difference for children withcommunication difficulties.
Parents and professionals need to be made aware of what communicationdifficulties are and the specialist support and knowledge available fromcharities like I CAN. We must ensure that the difficulties of thesevulnerable children are not overlooked, ensuring that all children aregiven the best start to achieve their potential in life.
Virginia Beardshaw, chief executive, I CAN,www.chatterboxchallenge.co.uk
LOCAL POLITICS
I am increasingly concerned to see the rate of closure or reorganisationof children's services. Responding to Sarah Teather ('250 centres couldclose', 3 February), this is so obviously a political move. The blamefor service reviews, with an amended Early Intervention Grant notringfenced, lies with local authorities who have, effectively, little orno choice. Similar to Eric Pickles' warnings on bin collections, we havehere a legal reminder from Sarah to local deciders about providingsufficient services for children and families.
Early intervention is important and, in my view, there's probably aneconomic case, but it's just too long-term and tenuous when difficult,hard-nosed local choices have to be made. The survey is of some 900children's centres, but the decision-makers are local. I don't haveanything against broader awareness-raising and venting of spleens, butwould community-based pressures be a bit more productive?
Another point might be the 'glass half-full approach'. If we look at theDaycare Trust and 4Children survey the other way round, then 93 per centof children's centres are not expected to close, just under half expectto maintain their services and only a few see the same funding. Asidefrom the statistical points, why is this? What are these particularcentres doing right?
Andrew Sanders, early years lecturer, University of Derby
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