Surely all activities with children carried out during the course of the working day are paid for - although I agree that phonics, and number and letter recognition, should be left to those properly qualified. But if - perhaps more cynically - it means that nursery nurses don't want to see their roles expanded and made more worthwhile, then isn't it a case of 'shooting oneself in the foot' after all the campaigning about being valued and recognised?
Observation and assessment is a vital tool to inform planning, and careful planning will result in an appropriate curriculum. Learning through play is also still alive and well, except that without at least some observation taking place, who knows what, if any, intended learning has occurred or what level of thinking a child is at?
Yes, the job has changed. But so has our understanding of how children develop and learn, and how best to support it. I don't know what used to happen 22 years ago, but if the day entailed not much more than watching children playing, reading stories, and providing juice and snacks for them, then I think that we could embrace these changes that make the job far more rewarding.
Pat Field Rose Lea Montessori Nursery, Moortown, Leeds
