When the Birth to Three Matters framework was produced it was hailed as welcome and overdue guidance for practitioners working with under-threes. For Peter Elfer, senior lecturer in early childhood studies at Roehampton University, it was a counterweight to an often prevailing culture among policy makers in the UK that 'children are born at three, when the Foundation Stage begins'. Birth to Three Matters, he says, emphasised for the first time 'that children are born at nought' and that the greatest need for that age group 'is support and development, not to be continually measured'.
However, there is uncertainty among practitioners about whether the framework will be incorporated in the revised national care standards. There is also concern that its purpose is being misunderstood in some quarters, particularly among Ofsted inspectors, and that it is being transformed into a curriculum. A DfES spokeswoman says there are 'no current plans' to make the framework 'a statutory requirement' and insists that it is 'not a curriculum but guidance on effective practice to promote learning and development'.
She adds, 'Although we are not currently considering key changes to the national standards, we are keeping them under review, and we are looking with Ofsted at the way early years provision should be inspected in future.'
An Ofsted spokeswoman confirms that talks with the DfES are continuing about 'how the Birth to Three framework will be evaluated and reported on in future inspections'.
Another Ofsted source suggests that bringing Birth to Three closer to the heart of the inspection framework is being considered but is unlikely to take place until April next year, when the inspection service begins a new programme of work.
The Ofsted spokeswoman says that early last year 'a number of inspectors attended a series of conferences run by the DfES to familiarise local authorities with the contents of the Birth to Three pack and consider how they might use the framework to support those working with the age group'.
All inspectors were subsequently given the pack; a series of briefings is now being held 'to ensure that all inspectors are familiar with the Birth to Three framework and the training programme for local authorities'.
Variable inspections
So there appears to have been a concerted effort to familiarise inspectors with the framework. Yet there is anecdotal evidence from settings of some inspectors failing to differentiate between the under-threes and older age groups and having unrealistic expectations and apparently little detailed knowledge of the Birth to Three framework. The result has been an uneven inspection regime.
Early years consultant and trainer Jennie Lindon says, 'The word out there is that there is a great deal of variability in Ofsted inspections. Sometimes people right down to the baby room are being asked Foundation Stage-type questions, or inspectors don't know what to ask about care, play and learning.'
Emphasising that 'many inspectors really know their stuff and are very supportive', she adds, 'If people have their heads screwed on right for early years, they ask the right questions and they enthuse about good practice. The fear is that they are not picking up on really bad practice.'
Inspectors need to have more than a clipboard and a schedule. They must be fully acquainted with Birth to Three Matters and, crucially, 'they need to know the context in which they are working', she says.
Peter Elfer says the first thing Ofsted inspectors need to understand is that inspecting settings with under-threes is 'much more complex than going into a school and looking at what a teacher does'. They must combat the notion that staff working with younger children - usually on 'supermarket check-out' pay - have an easier job.
Jennie Lindon advises practitioners to make 'a courteous professional challenge' when they are confronted with suggestions from an inspector which they regard as 'deeply, developmentally inappropriate'.
Foundation Stage starter
The way in which some inspections have been carried out has heightened fears that, amid confusion about its real purpose, the framework is being transformed into a mere appendage of the Foundation Stage - a far cry from the concept nurtured by its architects and advocates.
Peter Elfer recalls that under the old inspections conducted by local authority social services departments, there was a development as well as an inspection element. 'Now the balance has swung away from development to inspection,' he adds.
One early years practitioner says she knows of settings where staff have devised a 'checklist' of what the nought to threes need to accomplish before they enter the Foundation Stage. A leading nursery chain is also said to be using the framework as a curriculum.
She says, 'It is ridiculous to be informing parents of how their baby is succeeding by measuring them against Birth to Three Matters, because that means the child development side is neglected.'
She fears the Government's insistence that those who have attained qualified teacher status, but have little or no experience of looking after under-threes, should be in charge of children's centres and other integrated settings will see the framework being regarded more and more as a curriculum and being mishandled (see box).
But a programme of training now being developed is regarded as a potential antidote to the confusion. Early years consultant Ann Langston, who is project manager of the team at Manchester Metropolitan University contracted by the DfES to develop the training for Birth to Three, says that Ofsted inspectors have already been involved in initial training, which 'should start to filter down' and have an impact on the inspection service.
The process of 'training the trainers' has got underway with representatives from local authorities, early years partnerships and the Learning Skills Council attending sessions.
She wants further and higher education institutions to follow the University of Northumbria in incorpo- rating Birth to Three in modules of early years courses.
With conferences planned in June for awarding bodies such as CACHE, she hopes the framework will be reflected in courses as the training is due to be rolled out to the childcare workforce in the autumn.
Care standards
Jennie Lindon sees no logic in the framework sitting outside the national care standards, describing its omission as 'a bizarre, symbolic oversight that causes difficulties even in confident teams'. But she is wary of it becoming statutory and then evolving into a curriculum.
Peter Elfer says it would be counter-productive if integrating the framework into the standards simply means 'more expectations, more ammunition for inspectors to go in and say "you should be doing this and that".
'But if it was translated into the standards in a way that led to more recognition of what is involved in looking after a baby in a baby room, then it would serve a purpose,' he adds.
Whether or not Birth to Three Matters becomes part of revised standards, practitioners will be hoping the current review of the inspection process will make it clear to inspectors that it should not be seen as an adjunct to the Foundation Stage. The work of the Foundation Stage director and team of regional directors could help that process of clarification
