Children's minister Sarah Teather was given a briefing paper at the National Day Nursery Association's recent annual conference in Leeds, representing the views of nursery chains, which between them employ about 16,000 staff. The paper outlines key concerns about the diploma, and calls for a new specialist early years qualification to be developed and given official status and funding.
It argues that the CYPW diploma is 'inadequate for many reasons', including the absence of specific content relating to play and child development from birth to five. Employers also believe that the qualification is at odds with the recommendations in the Tickell Review of the EYFS, which stresses the importance of a specialist qualification with child development at its core.
Chains and organisations supporting the paper include Busy Bees, Bright Horizons, Asquith Nurseries, kidsunlimited, Childcare Corporation, Early Years Childcare and TACTYC.
Nurseries also question why they were not consulted during the qualification's development by the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC).
Tackled on this subject by angry delegates at the NDNA's conference, CWDC chief executive Jane Haywood said, 'The Diploma and Certificate were developed with employers and providers. We did not invent this in a room on our own.'
But June O'Sullivan, chief executive of the London Early Years Foundation, who raised the issue, said, 'I certainly wasn't consulted. Within the immediate group of employers I have been sitting with at this conference, none of us had been consulted. We would like to know who was consulted and what the process of consultation was.'
In her keynote address at the conference, Sarah Teather said, 'We want to have a think about the nature and detail of the qualifications, as there have been concerns about the Level 3. We will think about the strategy for the development of the workforce and whether the current qualifications are right, whether the training is right and whether the shape of qualifications and funding should change'.
Lobby group's key objections to the CYPW diploma
- Learners can achieve the qualification in just six months with minimal literacy levels.
- There are no units on play.
- It does not prepare learners to work with two-year-olds.
- There is little specific content relevant to child development from nought to five years.
VIEW FROM THE SECTOR: BRIGHT HORIZONS
The revised EYFS, which will be available for sector consultation between July and September, will not cover Dame Clare Tickell's recommendations for qualifications. A new steering group, which will work in conjunction with the Early Education Co-Production Group, is being set up to focus specifically on this area.
Nicola Amies, director of early years at Bright Horizons and a member of the expert panel on the EYFS Review, says, 'I hope that when the reformed EYFS goes out for consultation it will make it clear through an introductory paragraph that recommendations for changes to qualifications are part of a separate discussion.'
Ms Amies emphasises the importance of the sector responding to the revised framework. 'Those who have already read it will see that a significant percentage of Dame Clare's recommendations have been taken on board, and people will welcome the emphasis on reducing paperwork.
'However, I question what level of resources will be available to practitioners to support the slimmed-down EYFS. With National Strategies going and cuts to local authority support, there could be a gap.'
