Teach Early Years - Issue 14.2

JAMES HEMPSALL OBE IS MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CORAM HEMPSALL’S Making the best of Best Start in Life A round the start of the summer holidays, the government published its long-awaited Best Start in Life strategy. We were expecting it to arrive in the autumn, so its early release took us all by surprise. If you didn’t manage to read it by the end of term, or didn’t take it as your holiday reading, or have been too busy working across the summer, I’m here to help with the main points and some things to do now or to think ahead about. What’s in it? The Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, has said on numerous occasions that early years is her “number one priority”. This strategy sets out the first steps in her promise for a decade of renewal. Building on the commitments made in the Plan for Change, it lays the foundations for further reform that will no doubt be gradually revealed in due course. The DfE says it will spend close to £1.5 billion in England over the next three years on improving family services and early years education; here we focus on the headlines as we know them so far: Places and entitlements: continuing the rollout of 30 hours of government-funded early education and childcare from nine months old for eligible working parents, and increasing the supply of term-time wraparound childcare. (The rollout out of free breakfast clubs in every primary school will also continue to grow.) Sufficiency and support: shaping and supporting effective oversight at local or regional level to deliver the high-quality early education and childcare settings (including childminding) families need. This includes creating more places where they are most needed, together with school-based nurseries. Funding: a consultation over the next year on changes to how early years funding is allocated and distributed, to ensure it is matched to need and promotes workforce stability and quality provision, and achieves greater transparency from larger providers. More funding to promote inclusion and an expectation of better access for children with SEND. Quality: working towards the target to increase the number of children achieving a good level of development (GLD) by 2028. Inclusive practice to become standard practice. Increasing the frequency and quality of Ofsted inspections and incentivising the placement of early years teachers in settings (particularly in disadvantaged areas). Doubling the number of Stronger Practice Hubs. Family services: growing the number of Best Start Family Hubs to up to 1,000, building on proven early identification and intervention approaches. What should you do? Business management A key objective for most of us is managing the business and operational changes and challenges promoted by the expansion of the early years entitlements. We all want to deliver this well for families while ensuring the sustainability of our settings and workforce. It will be fascinating to see how the new entitlement influences and affects parental employment choices and behaviours, and how in turn this will drive and shape demand for childcare and how it is delivered and by whom. This is most definitely something to manage and monitor throughout the whole year. Local support and strategy How local authorities’ and regional mayoral authorities’ roles evolve and develop will be interesting. What tools and powers will they have to help create, manage, and support the market across all types of provision, including harnessing the collective power across local authority boundaries? This has the potential to revolutionise the relationship between providers and local councils and combine resources for greater effectiveness. Funding changes Few people don’t want changes to the way early years and childcare are funded by government via local authorities, whether that be providers, local £1.5b New funding for family services and early education SOURCE: DFE 64 Teachearlyyears.com