Opinion: Letters

Equal opportunities

I own and manage a large day nursery in Lincolnshire. As a QTS and EYPS, I like to think that we are at the forefront of all matters and initiatives that are childcare-related. We have an open relationship with nurseries around us and attend local meetings with other providers in order to share best practice.

What is becoming increasingly obvious is the amount of money being spent on Sure Start initiatives, for example encouraging tooth brushing, by giving resources to certain nurseries and healthy eating schemes. Our local Sure Start nursery has just received £14,000 towards provision of an outdoor area.

No, I'm not jealous, just bemused. I have lost count of the number of e-mails and phone calls I have made asking if we can be included as we, too, have Sure Start children. Just because we are a private provider, why should our children miss out? Yes, maybe the majority of our parents can provide a toothbrush for their child and yes, we already have a fantastically healthy menu, but why is it that Sure Start appear to want to go it on their own?

Those in the PVI sector struggle to keep their heads above water with Government-imposed constraints regarding funded sessions. Sure Start nurseries, with their well-publicised initiatives, their plentiful cash flow, wonderful resources and so on, may seem more appealing than ourselves, who work within tight advertising and resource purchasing budgets and cannot use the media to tell prospective parents about everything we do.

I thought Sure Start was about creating equal opportunities for all children, irrespective of their background. Now it seems that it's actually working in reverse and Sure Start children are entitled to resources and initiatives that our children are denied.

Name and address supplied

Letter of the Week wins £40 worth of children's books

Letters and sounds

I have great respect for Margaret Edginton's principled, professional judgement and know the difference she has made in her work with practitioners in the early years sector over many years. However, I find it rather harsh of her to dismiss the experiences and activities set out in phase one of the Letters and Sounds materials as 'inane' or 'phonetic nonsense' (Letters, 25 October).

She is referring in her letter to a brief supplement which was distributed via Nursery World, rather than the pack of materials themselves. These do respect and enhance effective practice, and I know that many advisory staff in local authorities are using these materials to support their training sessions.

I would urge heads, leaders and managers to send their staff on such courses and to read the advice given in the materials carefully.

Jane Cole, early childhood consultant

Phonics at home

I wholeheartedly agree with Margaret Edgington's comments about the inappropriate early teaching of synthetic phonics (Letters, 25 October).

It is beyond my comprehension, when we have an early years curriculum rooted in history, literature and research pertaining to the nature of young children's learning and development. Sadly, this rich curriculum can only stand as lip service to our children as a result of national and some local authority schemes that advocate the earlier teaching of more formal and decontextualised early reading programmes, in order to satisfy performance targets and league tables. This is no longer about meeting the needs of the individual child in a meaningful way, but instead has an adult agenda under the misleading heading 'improving outcomes for children'.

My personal concern is that in the current and future climate of partnership working, particularly with parents, children will inadvertently become victims of these developmentally inappropriate teaching methods at home as well as in the setting. As a result, we are in danger of ending up with a generation of brainwashed children who cannot think for themselves and who have been turned off the delights of learning for life. Surely we need to stop this nonsense now and employ a more 'principled professional judgement'.

Janet Uwins, MA student/early years consultant, Essex

- send your letters to ...

The Editor, Nursery World, 174 Hammersmith Road, London W6 7JP letter.nw@haymarket.com 020 8267 5000.