Early Years provision in schools – policy and practice

Dr Julian GrenierSheringham Nursery School and Children’s Centre

East London Partnership www.eleysp.co.uk@julian grenier

School readiness: HeadStart

http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/sr

School readiness: Ofsted

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418819/Are_you_ready_Good_practice_in_school_readiness.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418819/Are_you_ready_Good_practice_in_school_readiness.pdf

School readiness: Public Health

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/459828/School_readiness_10_Sep_15.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/459828/School_readiness_10_Sep_15.pdf

Early years provision in

schools

• Is this about schools learning about practice which is appropriate for the youngest children?

• Or is it about the “schoolfication” of the young child?

Ofsted (2014) An unsure start• “Too many of our poorest children are getting an

unsure start because the early years system is letting them down.” • “What children facing serious disadvantage need is

high quality early education from the age of two, delivered by skilled practitioners with degrees in a setting that parents can recognise and access easily. These already exist. They are called schools.”

Ofsted (2014) An unsure start• “Those who dislike the words ‘education’ and

‘teaching’ when it comes to very small children … fear that teaching the smallest children will inevitably lead to less play and less freedom … Setting up play and learning as opposites is a false dichotomy. The best play is challenging.”

• http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20141124154759/http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/ofsted-early-years-annual-report-201213-unsure-start-hmci-speech

Including two-year olds in school

Including two-year olds in school•“What really matters is not the type of setting but its quality, which is principally determined by the knowledge and qualifications of the workforce. We know that graduate- and teacher-led settings are more effective in closing the attainment gap (Mathers et al, 2014).

• https://www.early-education.org.uk/sites/default/files/Two-year-olds-briefing.pdf

Including two-year olds in school•“Schools are certainly not the only organisations which can provide this type of high-quality early education and care: but they are well- placed to do so.”

• https://www.early-education.org.uk/sites/default/files/Two-year-olds-briefing.pdf

A post local authority era?

Responding to uncertainty

Partnerships and alliancesThen there’s East London Early Years and

Schools Partnership, which is bringing together primary schools and private nurseries to develop a co-ordinated

approach for the early identification of SEN, and a common approach to the transition

to school.Education and Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah,

November 2015

Connectingtogether

“Quality pedagogy is not merely the product of actions by one teacher but rather relies on a membrane of constantly evolving supportive connections between teachers and children, teachers and teachers, structural elements of the organisation of the centre, and the centre’s philosophy and leadership style”

Dalli et al, 2011, p.3

Working together

“Babies and young children are like the research and development division of the human species”

“It’s good to be a grown-up. We can do things like tie our shoelaces and cross the street by ourselves. And it makes sense that we put a lot of effort into making babies think like adults do. But if what we want is... to have open-mindedness, open learning, imagination, creativity, innovation, maybe at least some of the time we should be getting the adults to start thinking more like children.”

Alison Gopnik, TED talk What do babies think?

Or…working together

Going far

www.eleysp.co.uk

Being and becoming

“Childhood and being a child are effectively under siege in many modern societies, since children are too often viewed as economic investments, 'products' for the future.

The child must have the opportunity to be as well as become.”

(Gammage, 2006)