PROMOTING THE EYP
I am writing in response to 'Job of the week' in Nursery World (13 May) for a Director of Early Years post with a large nursery chain and attracting a salary of around £60K. I was dismayed to see the advert asked for a minimum Level 4 qualification for this position at a time when many people are working so hard to ensure that early years becomes a graduate-led profession.
It seems sad that adverts for positions at this level, and carrying significant salaries, are not even mentioning Early Years Professional Status as a 'look for'. The EYP role is about leading and supporting practice and initiating and managing change, but based on sound theoretical knowledge. An EYP is able to focus on practice that is based on the principles of the EYFS, yet is capable of seeing 'the bigger picture' and working alongside or within senior management teams as a lead professional.
Clearly, EYPs have different levels of experience, but for a 'director of early years', it would seem appropriate to be searching for a graduate who can demonstrate a high level of knowledge, awareness, commitment and competence.
It is disconcerting that some early years employers are not promoting this role at senior management level and the requirement to employ an EYP in their settings.
In this particular case, salary is not the issue. It is a missed opportunity to promote and acknowledge a role that research (EPPE) supports in terms of meeting outcomes for children, as well as motivating and raising the morale of all those students and candidates who have gained or are working towards EYPS.
Jeanne Barczewska, senior assessor EYPS/senior lecturer, University of Northampton
- Letter of the Week wins £30 worth of books
EYE ON THE POLICY
The Open EYE campaign has always taken a non-party-political stance in relation to early years policy, which has allowed us to speak honestly about how we perceive the merits, or otherwise, of Government policy-making. Open EYE's combination of strict political impartiality and committed partiality towards young children's well-being will continue with the new coalition Government.
It is too early to assess the extent to which the new ministerial team will respond to our concerns regarding overly bureaucratic regimes of learning and care, and the imposition of what are inappropriate developmental 'targets' (in all but name) for young children.
Yet in 'To the Point' (15 October), the new minister for schools Nick Gibb crystallised many of our concerns with his strong criticisms of the 'tick-box' aspects of the EYFS mandatory framework for learning and development, which he called 'a bureaucratic nightmare'.
We hope, therefore, that the new Government, while preserving the EYFS's four themes and principles, will also seek to accord the same freedom to the early years sector that they are conferring upon primary and secondary schools - and accordingly, that the best aspects of the EYFS will no longer be compromised by its widely criticised shortcomings. We will be exploring these and other policy-related themes at our second international conference in London on Saturday 12 June (www.thechildthetruefoundation).
Margaret Edgington, Wendy Ellyatt, Richard House, Lynne Oldfield and Kim Simpson
TWO SIDES OF SICK PAY
I wish everyone received sick pay (Letters, 8 April), but I can see both sides of the argument. As a staff member, I believe that we should be paid for sick leave, but as part of the management team, I understand that paying sick pay for a team of 30 staff has pushed the business to its limits.
When providing sick pay, we had to pay for the absent member of staff and for staff cover, which cost us £140 to £210 if we had to employ agency staff.
Since stopping sick pay we have reduced staff absences by over 90 per cent. This is not to say that our staff come in when ill, contagious or unfit to work - I think good procedures should be in place to prevent the spread of infection - but staff now think twice about taking time off for minor ailments and consider the impact on the nursery and the children in their care.
Name and address supplied
- Send your letters to ... The Editor, Nursery World, 174 Hammersmith Road, London W6 7JP; letter.nw@haymarket.com; 020 8267 8401
