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Annex F: Views Gathered During the Review
The National Review of the Early Years and Childcare Workforce was influenced by the views of front line staff, managers and owners of businesses in the sector.
A series of small consultation events were held with groups of staff and employers during the Review. This was to ensure that the Review members were aware of the range of issues that staff and employers across the sector were identifying.
Ten distinct consultations took place with nearly 200 front line staff, managers and owners in the public, private and voluntary sectors between January and May 2005. All of the points made were relevant and some of the more common themes are listed below:
Future Work in the Sector
- Many staff and employers thought that more integrated working is inevitable - staff will need to be more flexible in how they see their roles. For example, there will be more working with parents and families.
- The integration of services is difficult due to the wide difference in terms and conditions between jobs.
- Overarching structures need to be in place to allow staff to move job - secondment opportunities would be good. This would help keep staff motivated and offer them new challenges.
Qualifications and Training
- Employers find it difficult to backfill vacancies of staff who are training. Difficult because they cannot find temporary replacements and they cannot afford it either. Employers in rural areas find it particularly difficult to get staff cover to allow training during working hours.
- If workers had incentives to train it would be better - such as having their fees or books paid, or even some time off for study leave.
- Some staff highlighted the need for better support from their managers and training providers to undertake training.
- Qualifications across the country need more uniformity and be acceptable to all employers. One qualification framework for the future would be helpful. Qualifications need to build on each other, rather than repeating the same material at each level.
- Joint training was seen as hugely beneficial but just a one day workshop on multi-disciplinary training was not enough.
- Many employers and staff felt that we need to have better ways to recognise and formalise the skills of experienced but unqualified staff.
- Some employers and some staff queried the quality of some candidates through both college and SVQ routes.
Finance
- Many private and voluntary sector providers raised concerns about the level of funding through local authorities for partnership pre-school places. The funding available does not allow them to pay salaries which are attractive to staff, particularly well-qualified staff. They are also concerned that they cannot afford to increase salaries without increasing the cost of childcare for parents.
- Many workers feel that pay and conditions across the entire sector are too low, particularly in the private and voluntary sectors.
Profile of the Sector
- Need to introduce young people to childcare training in school - that way they will be able to see it is a job for boys and girls, help them decide if they want a career in early years and childcare.
- Many workers and employers felt that we need to raise profile of sector e.g. work with careers service, job centres to improve the quality of information (about the level of skill involved, the value of the work and to dispel myths about it being women's work) used to advise potential applicants.
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