Regulation of Early Education and Childcare

Chapter 6: Standards: Staff Qualifications and the Role of Teachers in Pre-school Education

Introduction

1. The principle that comparable provision should be subject to similar regulatory standards applies no less to the qualifications of staff employed in institutional settings than to their numbers. But, as we have seen, the current regulatory framework makes a distinction between private and voluntary sector providers of daycare and local authority pre-school education. In school settings managed by education authorities, a requirement for teacher qualifications is statutorily regulated through the Schools Code; and there are stipulations on other staff who must be present in nursery schools and classes. In relation to settings liable to registration under the Children Act 1989, guidance issued to local authorities also includes reference to staff qualifications: in most settings at least half of all staff should be qualified although specific qualifications are not identified.

2. This section examines the justification for these differing approaches and asks whether they continue to make sense in today's world. The section explores alternative ways of ensuring that those working with young children possess the necessary skills and knowledge.

3. There are two main issues. First are there qualifications requirements which should apply as a minimum to all childcare settings, or particular types of childcare and what should these be? Secondly where providers are delivering pre-school education -whether in a short session or as part of an extended day - should there be additional or particular requirements relating to teacher qualifications?

All settings

4. Current guidance under the Children Act recommends that at least half of staff in day nurseries or playgroups should be qualified or, in the case of playgroups, have completed a training course specified by the SPPA or other voluntary body. In practice some providers will have substantially more qualified staff. For out of school care it is simply recommended that some staff be qualified. In all cases the regulator may require individual providers to have greater numbers of qualified staff if individual circumstances warrant this. There may, however, now be a case for requiring or recommending that more staff hold qualifications. But arguably this should not be so extensive as to diminish the role of valuable unqualified staff or prevent them but from pursuing vocational qualifications while working.

5. Guidance does not specify what are appropriate qualifications allowing this to be judged against individual circumstances. For example, the relevant HNC or SVQ3 will usually be looked for in those caring for 5 year olds and under during an extended day. Specifying such a level of qualification might be seen as means of promoting quality care but could also result in over complicated guidance and reduced flexibility to adapt to particular circumstances. For example, if in the future we are to look for wider holding of qualifications, it may be satisfactory for some staff to be qualified, for example, to SVQ level 2 but specifying in guidance the proportions of staff who should hold different levels of qualification would be a complex matter.

6. Upskilling of the workforce is undoubtedly desirable but can not be achieved only or mainly through regulatory requirements. The Scottish Office is currently, with the SQA, relevant NTOs and others, looking at training and qualifications for childcare and pre-school education with the objective of establishing a clearer framework and progression routes so as to encourage entry into the profession, uptake of training and pursuit of qualifications. Further consultation is likely and conclusions may impinge on future regulatory requirements or associated guidance. But it makes sense to consider now whether any broad change in requirements or recommendations is desirable. Any change must course be achievable and this may point to a staged approach over time.

Do consultees agree that the aim should be for qualifications to be held by all those working in childcare settings and that staff without qualifications should be encouraged to work towards them? Given that a mix of qualifications is likely to be appropriate in any one facility, do consultees have views on whether levels or type of qualification should or can be specified beyond current requirements?

Pre-school education

7. In commissioning pre-school education from private and voluntary providers, local authorities may require the holding of certain qualifications over and above what may be required for registration under the Children Act. For example, local authorities may look for some teacher involvement. In providing education at their own hand local authorities are covered by regulations within the Schools Code.

8. The Schools Code, first developed in 1956 and heavily amended since then, sets requirements for a range of management and operational matters in schools, including staffing requirements and class sizes. The original provisions applying to nursery schools and classes were substantially revised in the 1960s and '70s. There now remain 3 main provisions, dealing with teaching qualifications in local authority nursery schools and classes, maximum class size, and the proportion of nursery nurses or 'helpers' to pupils. (For details, see end of chapter.)

9. The Code was framed at a time when such limited nursery provision as existed was mainly to be found in the public sector and within those local authorities which had a tradition of supporting children's early education and of enabling mothers to work. It sought to set basic standards for such provision. Since then, provision for pre-school children has changed out of all recognition. Now, virtually all children in the pre-school year attend part-time pre-school education; and the Government is committed to expanding education services to all children after their third birthday.

10. Whilst the majority of children attend local authority nursery schools or nursery classes attached to primary schools, a significant minority use educational services offered in private day nurseries and in voluntary playgroups. Estimates recently provided by education authorities suggest that some 25% of three year olds may be educated in the private and voluntary sectors from next August. For many working parents, the availability of extended daycare alongside part-time education provision within the one centre is particularly attractive.

11. Meanwhile, provision within the public sector has also been changing with the growth in many areas of family centres, community nurseries and other forms of provision which include education within a broad range of support services for young children and their families. Gone are the days when all public sector nursery education provision was located in 'schools'. The Code's references to 'classes' are also, arguably, outdated and unhelpful to the managers of today's nursery provision, given the nature of teaching and learning at the pre-school stage and the circumstances in which certain forms of provision - for example, provision in rural areas - has to operate. The Code reference to a 'special' qualification in nursery teaching has also been overtaken (at least to some degree) by reforms to initial teacher education. In short, there is a clear need to modernise the staff qualification requirements in relation to pre-school education. The Government's recent White Paper on Scotland's schools - Targeting Excellence - proposes a general overhaul of the Code and the replacement of obsolete prescription with more up to date guidance.

Education and care: the relevance of the 'curriculum'

12. Daycare and pre-school education are intimately connected, but differ in emphasis and approach. The distinctive feature of pre-school education is the curriculum - a framework for learning. The Curriculum Framework for Children in the Pre-school Year, published by HM Inspectors of Schools in 1997, seeks to give children access to planned opportunities for a wide range of learning, using the medium of play. It maps out areas of experience which will enable children to develop in emotional, social, physical and intellectual terms. The Framework also makes clear that pre-school education requires staff to observe, record and report on the progress and development of very young children in order to plan appropriately to meet their individual needs. And it emphasises that the environment most conducive to learning is one in which children are well cared for.

13. The distinguishing feature of pre-school education is therefore this accent on planned learning using a curriculum and an associated cycle of assessment and reporting. What the provider is called, and the sector to which the provider belongs, are irrelevant in determining whether education is being offered. Private day nurseries and voluntary playgroups are now well established as providers of pre-school education, alongside local authority nursery schools and classes.

Central question

14. The key question in the context of the regulation of staff involved in pre-school education therefore relates to competence, not sector. The crux of the matter is what knowledge, skills and competencies are required by staff for effective delivery of the published curriculum and for effective assessment of children's progress? This is a complex issue, not least because the process of enabling children to learn in pre-school is generally handled by more than one person. Nor can the skills required for effective delivery of the curriculum be divorced from the skills involved in expert care: the two are interdependent, particularly where children are in 'all-through' provision.

The staffing context in pre-school

15. Typically, staff in pre-school centres - predominantly teachers, nursery nurses and support staff - work as a team, with many roles shared. Many of the best pre-school centres are characterised by high levels of mutual staff support and collaboration. Many expert staff have developed their knowledge and skills over the years; but since prior learning and experience are not widely accredited, their 'craft knowledge' is sometimes undervalued. Any approach to qualifications for pre-school education should recognise that staff with a variety of qualifications may make a very valuable contribution to children's learning.

Relevant competencies

16. Effective delivery of the pre-school curriculum requires a broad range of knowledge and skills. These will include: an understanding of child development and theories of learning; curriculum planning and enrichment; learning support, especially in relation to children with special needs; the development of early literacy and numeracy and other aspects of pre-school learning set out in the Framework; child observation, assessment and reporting. These various competencies can be demonstrated at a range of levels, but must to some degree be practised by all staff.

17. In addition, the pre-school team needs to be well led - to ensure cohesive effort, systematic planning, and effective performance monitoring. Management and appraisal skills must be present in the person taking the lead role. (There may also a wider management dimension where the team leader is also in charge of the overall resources and quality standards of the centre. This however goes beyond the central concerns of this paper.)

Current training

18. What is the scope of current training of pre-school staff, in relation to the competencies discussed above? Broadly, nursery nurses nowadays qualify through the usual structures of occupational training, proceeding either through a Higher National Certificate in Child Care and Education or (the work-based route) through a SVQ level 3 in Childcare and Early Education. Nursery nurses' training covers early years education and children development and also extends to wider aspects of childcare including nutrition, hygiene and the care of babies.

19. To become a qualified primary teacher within a local authority in Scotland, a student must follow a graduate-level programme at a higher education institution -either a 4-year B.Ed or a degree course in a subject other than education followed by a post-graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) in primary education. Both routes include a nursery component. The guidelines issued by the Secretary of State on the content of teacher education courses were recently revised to take account, amongst other things, of the pre-school curriculum framework and the need to develop skills in the assessment of pre-school children. A further nursery qualification is offered in-service (and accredited) at several levels in higher education institutions.

Respective staff roles

20. In the public sector in Scotland, the largest sector of quality pre-school education, qualified teachers and nursery nurses work together. There has been much debate in recent years about their respective roles, and also about whether the presence of a qualified teacher is essential for the effective day-to-day running of pre-school education. Many authorities have in recent years sought to build up strong pre-school staff teams in which staff roles and functions are less sharply divided than formerly, and in which nursery nurses are encouraged to contribute to the processes of child assessment and reporting to parents. So what does current practice within local authorities tells us about changing policies and priorities, and about the ways in which the Code is being interpreted?

Current practice

21. All authorities continue to deploy teachers in those centres which are subject to the Code -nursery schools and the nursery departments of primary schools. But authorities take different views on the quantity of teacher resource that should be devoted to education settings. Interpretations of the Code are not uniform. There is some evidence that the teacher resource is spread more thinly than 1 teacher to 20 children, even in centres managed by education departments. Some authorities base their practice on full-time equivalent places, rather than numbers of children.

22. In some authorities, the head of the nursery school is routinely counted in for the purposes of reckoning the Code ratios, even though that headteacher may spend a minority of his/her time in the playroom. In the case of primary schools with nursery departments, some authorities will take account (for the purposes of meeting the Code ratio) of the proportion of the headteacher's time which is spent on the pre-school class; but others may not. Some authorities seeking to provide quality pre-school education to small numbers of children in remote rural areas use peripatetic teacher support in flexible ways which cannot be resolved to simple staff: pupil ratios. Some authorities tend to the view that with highly experienced nursery nurses as colleagues and team members, there is a powerful argument (from effectiveness as well as efficiency) for focusing the teacher resource on the tasks that teachers are generally held most qualified to perform - curriculum planning, responding to the needs of individual children, and monitoring their progress.

23. There is also a wide range of practice in non-school centres run by local authorities, such as community nurseries and family centres. Some include teachers as lead members of the pre-school team; some have teachers in overall management positions; others appoint professionals with different qualifications (such as social work or psychology) as team leaders or centre managers. Some authorities incline towards a graduated approach in determining the amount of teacher input to pre-school - building the input up as children approach entry to school. As far as the Department can tell, however, current practice seems to suggest that, even where authorities do not appoint teachers to take management charge of the whole centre, they see teachers as contributing important and relevant skills to the staff team.

24. The position on teacher involvement is equally variable amongst those voluntary and private centres which have been taken into partnership for pre-school education by their local authority. Some authorities have stipulated that partner centres must have a teacher present during the grant-funded pre-school education sessions. But other authorities, having satisfied themselves as to the quality of the education provided in certain partner centres, have been content to rest on the skills of experienced staff already in place.

Inspection evidence on staff skills and teacher input

25. What does evidence from HMI inspections of pre-school centres tell us about the optimal mix of staff skills for high quality pre-school education?

26. Inspections to date of nursery centres suggest that high quality education can be delivered by teams whose members are variously qualified. In a few exceptional cases (where highly gifted and experienced staff are in place), HM Inspectors have found good quality education even where staff have no formal qualifications. However, in general and on the basis of the inspections conducted to date, the findings across all sectors suggest that high quality service is more often than not associated with presence of a teacher. In other words, teachers are highly correlated with effective delivery of the curriculum, even if it cannot be said conclusively that the presence of a teacher will necessarily guarantee educational quality in each and every case. What teachers in general bring to the service are those skills - in the planning of learning, continuity and progression in learning, and in observing, assessing and reporting on the child's progress - that are key to the delivery of the curriculum and to the effective functioning of pre-school teams. For the purposes of formulating a national policy on teacher involvement in pre-school education, these findings are particularly important.

Questions

27. Given the diversity in current practice, the range of interpretations applied to the Schools Code, and the rapidly changing circumstances in which local authorities are planning and co-ordinating pre-school education and childcare, it seems appropriate to seek consultees' views on a number of broad issues, rather than press towards particular conclusions. The following questions are intended to give an opportunity for readers to respond to the main issues raised in this chapter; but they are not exhaustive, and consultees should feel free to add comments on any other aspect of staff competences for pre-school education. Do consultees agree that, other things being equal, qualified teachers are in a better position that other early years professionals to plan the curriculum, tailor the child's learning opportunities in light of their assessment of the child's progress, and ensure continuity with 5-14? If the involvement of qualified teachers is agreed to be an important factor in the provision of quality education, how best is this 'involvement' expressed? Is there any continuing need for statutory prescription on the input of teachers to pre-school education? Would guidance to local authorities on this question (as on matters of the standards to be reached in childcare), provide an adequate benchmark? Is a ratio (ie a fixed proportion of teacher FTE in relation to FTE children) helpful? Or would it be more useful to give examples of the kind of teacher involvement that creates the right conditions for good quality service? Does a graduated approach (see paragraph 17 above) make sense? For teacher involvement to be effective, must there be direct contact between the teacher and other staff members, and between the teacher and individual children? If so, should there be minimum input standards expressed in terms of minimum contact time, or frequency of contacts? Is there a risk that this might encourage merely surface compliance with standards? What account, if any, should be taken of the costs arising for the operation of the pre-school service from the application of particular ratios? Is there a need for fuller guidance to authorities and their partners on effective teamworking in pre-school centres, including the respective roles played by different team members, in support of educational objectives? Although this consultation paper is not focused on issues of training, do you want to offer any views on the initial training of teachers, or continuing professional development for practising teachers, in this context of the regulation of daycare and pre-school education?

Footnote: Schools Code provisions

Regulation 5(2)

'The head teacher of a nursery school and the teacher in charge of a nursery class not forming part of a nursery school shall hold or under the Training Regulations be deemed to hold a Teacher's Certificate (Primary Education) with a special qualification to act as a principal teacher of a nursery school.'

Regulation 15(1)

'Subject to the provisions of paragraph (4) of this Regulation, in nursery schools and classes the number of pupils in any class shall not exceed 20.'

Regulation 23(3)

'The education authority shall employ nursery nurses or helpers in the proportion of not less than one such person for 20 pupils.'