I don't plan on giving up this fight any time soon!
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Elizabeth Truss MP
Department for EducationCastle View House
East Lane
Runcorn
Cheshire
WA7 2GJ
12th
October 2013
Dear Ms Truss,
Further to our recent communications
via Mr Graham Stuart MP, I will be most grateful if you will in future respond personally and directly to my
communications in respect of the difficulties currently encountered by Early
Years Professionals (EYPs). It seems impractical to involve my local MP in a
matter which relates purely to the Department for Education (DfE) and which
effectively removes his attention from local but equally important political
matters.
I am appreciative of your responses to
my concerns however I remain anxious that in spite of your rhetoric, which
clearly establishes the value of Early Years Professionals and the newly titled
Early Years Teachers (EYTs), there remains no conclusive decision or plan to
pay these highly skilled individuals a wage commensurate with their level of
expertise and graduate qualification. Indeed, I suspect that many existing EYPs
may well be considering leaving the sector in order to earn a wage that can
more effectively meet the financial commitments of a family!
May I suggest that you take a close look
at the disparity between the wages of teachers with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
and those without QTS on the document to which you refer in your last email -(http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/s/2013%20stpcd%20master%20final.pdf). It is apparent to all Early Years practitioners that
there is a colossal and unfair difference, a matter on which I have never
received an acceptable explanation. And yet, your department continues to claim
that EYPs and EYTs, specifically trained to deal with the ever-changing needs
of our youngest children, are equally as important as teachers of our older
children.
With respect to your comments regarding
the other options which may be available to me should I wish to achieve QTS, I
do not currently get paid a wage (£12600) that can effectively support my family,
let alone support me through yet further education or assessment to qualify to
teach a different age group.
I have begun to investigate your
suggestion that there is potential to achieve QTS through the ‘assessment only’
route, however I am being advised that this is not available to me locally
(East Yorkshire) and that I am required to be able to demonstrate experience in
another age range to be accepted. I wonder if you would suggest that I give up
my relatively secure, although poorly paid, permanent job (£8.16/hour) to seek
primary school experience which will likely be at a lower pay rate and on a
temporary contract, so that I might be considered a suitable candidate to pay
approximately £2000 plus travel expenses for this assessment route?
I continue to stress that my existing skills
and training have been explicitly honed to focus on the very different needs
and education of the under 5s (as directed by the EYFS), yet I feel that I have
been more than suitably equipped with the knowledge and understanding to teach
older children. Despite all these abilities, I ought to admit that I am
beginning to wonder whether my protracted qualifications, experience and skills
are still considered to be ‘good enough’ and, if not, why were vast sums from tax
payer funds used to train so many EYPs for something so worthless.
I should advise that I have been very dissatisfied
with every DfE response that I have received to date as the department seems
unable to comprehend the harsh impact that their punitive decisions have had on
the financial security and career prospects of Early Years Professionals who have
provided dedicated service to the sector. In fact, I have not received any response to
my most recent letter (addressed to you personally) which was posted in August
2013.
I look forward to your new response so
that I may share your comments with my fellow campaigners and relevant Early
Years media.
Sincerely,
P.S. You may wish to take a look at my Blog which relates to my campaign and
the comments from others who have signed the Petition which is committed to improving salary and conditions for
EYPs. I have provided the links below:
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