Letters

How are we going to challenge the 15-hour free entitlement? I have rarely seen such a badly thoughtout piece of Government policy. It seems that it pleases no one in the early years sector and is detrimental to all.

If the Government truly believes that the cost of educating a pre-school child is £3.75 an hour (News, 11 February), they have got the calculation very wrong. Even the sum of £5 to £7, also mentioned in the news story, falls short of our calculations of £12 to £15 per hour.

I employ very highly qualified staff. We have four practitioners with early years degrees, including one with EYP status, and the rest of my staff team are qualified to Level 3 or above. My rent for the building, shared with an after-school/holiday play centre, is high. We recently achieved Outstanding in our Ofsted inspection.

The free entitlement appears to be in total opposition to the Government's aims to have a highly-qualified, professional early years team in every setting, as we know that high qualifications and standards command high salaries.

The Government also seems to be at odds with itself over the educational suitability of the candidates entering childcare. We accept NVQ student placements in our setting, and many who are placed with us by Government training schemes should not be considering a career in the early years (though, I hasten to add, we have also had marvellous students who have become great early years teachers). Now with Level 2 being changed and the Level 3 course being shortened, how can we guarantee the quality demanded of us?

Our setting is in the admittedly, wealthy borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where many parents can afford high nursery fees. But what is the solution? To leave the free entitlement to the detriment of parents who are struggling? Or to lower standards and cut costs? Either way, we will probably still go out of business. The answer, to my mind, is for the Government to use some joined-up thinking on funding and qualifications and go back to the drawing board.

Mrs Claire C Dimpfl, owner/directress, Tadpoles Nursery School, London

Letter of the Week wins £30 worth of books

MOVING TO EYFS JOBS

I would like to respond to Sue Stanford's letter (7 January) 'The right teacher', and add my own experiences.

I agree that many reception and nursery class teachers are untrained in the early years, and that just as many headteachers neither understand how children learn nor appreciate the importance of play-based learning. However, my experiences this year have been positive and even heart-warming.

In my local authority, KS1 and KS2 teachers moved in unprecedented numbers to work in reception and nursery in September 2009. The process started in the spring term, when headteachers, particularly those with falling rolls at the top end of the primary school, were asked to discuss with their teachers the possibility of moving to work in the EYFS. Interested teachers first visited a reception and/or nursery class in session, which filtered out some teachers who realised it was not right for them.

Those who were still interested then received training in the EYFS principles and practice and were subsequently allocated a reception or nursery post, usually within their current school.

Ongoing support was provided through the autumn term by early years practitioners within their own school and by local authority early years consultants - support that will continue through the spring and summer terms as and where it is most needed.

As a consultant supporting these teachers, it has been a joy to see them making such an enthusiastic and successful transition to the EYFS. They are all loving their new roles, while admitting that it is more tiring and very different to previous roles and that they have lots to learn - most notably about child-initiated learning, continuous provision and observational assessment. However, none feel they made a mistake, with many saying they wish they had done it years ago!

Helen Marshall, early years consultant, Service Children's Education, Bielefeld, BFPO 39

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