Nursery World - Vision on

Early years leaders look to an integrated future As a society, we now have an opportunity to reduce inequality through provision of universal services, including education and childcare, for children from birth to six years old. But this opportunity will be squandered unless it is built on the educational excellence of the nursery school. It will be squandered if Children's Centres are not developed by a core of graduate-level heads who are specialists in leading children's learning.

As a society, we now have an opportunity to reduce inequality through provision of universal services, including education and childcare, for children from birth to six years old. But this opportunity will be squandered unless it is built on the educational excellence of the nursery school. It will be squandered if Children's Centres are not developed by a core of graduate-level heads who are specialists in leading children's learning.

The best current Foundation Stage practice is supported by a high proportion of specialist teachers and nursery nurses. We must work to maintain quality during this period of ambitious expansion. Cathy Nutbrown, professor of education at Sheffield University, once memorably called for early childhood services to be developed by a multiprofessional team, not a multiprofessional person. The expertise of early years staff must not be lost or diluted, but we must also learn from the other professions, and change in response to our learning.

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