Opinion: Letters

WE NEED TEACHERS

In response to the news story 'Scrap rules for teachers to lead EYFS' (News, 14 August), I actually think this is one of the plus points of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Most local authorities already employ qualified teachers within their maintained nursery schools and nursery classes within schools.

I recognise that most nursery nurses do an excellent job and are very good at what they do, but they are not qualified teachers, with the expertise that this entails. Deborah Lawson has not taken into account the EPPE research which showed most clearly that children do better in settings with qualified teachers, stating, 'Having trained teachers working with children in pre-school settings (for a substantial proportion of time, and most importantly as the curriculum leader) had the greatest impact on quality.'

All of us who work with young children hold their interests in our hearts. Therefore we need to respond to the research and recognise the importance of having a qualified early years teacher within our settings in order to ensure that we give children the best quality of pre-school education we can. Our Government has obviously recognised this fact.

Perhaps the nursery unit will be able to work as a team with the qualified teacher who will join them, sharing their expertise for the benefit of all the children.

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COMPLEMENTARY ROLE

It is strange that members of the union Voice are calling for the Government to scrap the requirement to have teachers leading the EYFS.

For many years there has been a strong recommendation from the Government that nursery schools and classes should be staffed by fully qualified early years teachers and nursery nurses and, since 2005, it has been a legal requirement for headteachers to ensure 'that a teacher is assigned in the school timetable to every class or group of pupils in the Foundation Stage' (School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document, 2005). Any school which has a class or unit that is operating without a teacher has been ignoring this - a requirement that has been endorsed by recent research carried out by the Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE) project. Settings where the curriculum was led by teachers were found to offer the best social and educational outcomes for children.

Both teachers and nursery nurses gain from working in partnership. Their training is complementary and children benefit from their collective expertise. While it is clear that current training routes are totally inadequate, the status of the early years profession depends on having professionals qualified to the same level as all other primary teachers.

If, as Voice advocates, teachers are no longer required in the EYFS in schools, the career and pay structure that Deborah Lawson asks for will continue to be a pipe dream.

- Margaret Edgington, vice president, National Campaign for Real Nursery Education

EYPS IS NOT ENOUGH

I am appalled at the motion from a Voice union member to remove the requirement for maintained nursery schools and classes to have qualified teachers leading the Early Years Foundation Stage.

When the Froebelians and Margaret McMillan introduced nursery education to this country, it was the insistence on employing qualified teachers that led to a system of quality education. While EYP status is to be admired, it does not compare with the rigorous study of pedagogy and curriculum development most teachers have taken.

I know of a recently qualified EYP whose original degree was unconnected with early years. Her sole experience of working with children had been gained as a childminder and all her evidence for EYPS was based on this. Surely, this experience alone cannot prepare someone for leading curriculum development in a large nursery school or class.

Maintained nursery schools and classes consistently do well in Ofsted inspections and provide a quality of education that has been emulated around the world. Take away the QTS leadership and I fear this will no longer be the case.

- Adrian Atkins, headteacher, Marlborough, Wiltshire

Send your letters to ... The Editor, Nursery World, 174 Hammersmith Road, London W6 7JP, letter.nw@haymarket.com, 020 8267 8402.