Call to align nursery and primary school teacher status

Nursery school teachers should be given the same status and pay as those in primary school, the Pre-School Learning Alliance has said. 


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-28545669




Let me know what you think...

Salaried Schools Direct Teacher Training for Early Years

I have been looking out for September 2014's list of Salaried Early Years Schools Direct Teacher Training Places.

Regrettably, I have observed that the new Schools Direct list has NO salaried training places for Early Years. (https://education.gov.uk/schooldirectapplications/ui/public/search/course/_source/menu/_pageId/10/_pageVn/0.21)

This implies that I must give up my low paid but secure Early Years job to undertake further training in an age group that is different to the Early Years to enable me to achieve QTS and then to apply to teach in the Early Years!

Catastrophically ridiculous!

Letter to Ms Truss 121013

As I have never received a response to my personally addressed letter to Ms Truss (dated 280813 - proof of delivery retained) I have penned another letter of which I may send copies to other MPs, media etc.

I don't plan on giving up this fight any time soon!

Feel free to copy and paste:

****************************************************

Elizabeth Truss MP

Department for Education
Castle View House
East Lane
Runcorn
Cheshire
WA7 2GJ

12^th 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,

 

Julie Dervey

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:

http://eyptrials.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/department-for-education-stop-discrimination-against-early-years-professionals

 

*********************************************************

Succinctly Said!

Succinctly Said!
These are the views of an Early Years Professional who has signed the petition and made the following statement:

---

I studied for several years, achieving a 1st class degree and a uni prize for excellence in education. I have been promoted within my setting but overlooked when a head of dept job came available because of 'the teacher thing' - I am now helping a teacher to understand how the EYFS works as she takes on this role. The promised requirement of a graduate in every setting appears to have gone and managers jobs are advertised for Level 3's with salaries to match. I am now planning to leave Early Years so that I can get a salary that will pay the bills and improve my family's quality of life - not an easy decision but I have resigned myself to the fact that my skills and experience are worthless. The most shocking thing about all this is that all of my learning, my skills and my understanding were funded by the LEA/tax payer. What a scandalous waste. Why have you not invested just a little more to ensure that the money put into EY training was not a total waste. Ms Nutbrown suggested a simple conversion that would enable EYP's to gain QTS and so open up the job market and use their skills in the state sector, without risking their income and employment. It was a common sense solution and would have benefited children across all EY sectors. I am proud of the difference that my training has made to the children who have been in my care. I am ashamed that I have been a part of the shameful waste of skills, training and tax payers' money and now have no option but to leave the sector. The government should be ashamed too.
__________________________________________

This statement precisely depicts all of the discrimination that EYPs are experiencing and clearly demonstrates the reasons why the current working conditions must be addressed.

This will help the campaign to gain more credence and hopefully help us to succeed in removing the discrimination of EYPs.

Definition of equal (from the Oxford English Dictionary)

The Oxford English Dictionary clarifies that the word equal means as follows:
adjective-
• (of people) having the same status, rights, or opportunities

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/equal?q=equal

I understood that EYPs were supposed to be equal to QTS in terms of Early Years expertise but it seems that we will never have the same status. rights or opportunities. Now it seems we will also be usurped by EYTs for employment opportunities because our EYPS has become out-dated!!

Equivalent is not the same!!!!!

I received this email from Best Practice Network today (24 Sep 13):

***********

Good day to you. 

Thank you for your request for a personalised confirmation that Early Years Professional Status is considered EQUIVALENT to Early Years Teacher Status. The statements have been despatched over the past couple of days so you should receive yours soon, if you haven’t already done so.

As you will know from our July newsletter (extract below) we did not offer to provide a replacement certificate but rather a confirmation of equivalence.  The language is very important so please be careful to use the phrase ‘confirmation of equivalence’ in any discussions you might have. We have already received  a lot of questions about this so are sending this email to make sure everything is as clear as possible. 

The statement confirming equivalence that you receive from us does not mean that this is a conversion or replacement certificate.  This was not what we offered. It  would not be possible because EYPS and Early Years Teacher Status are two distinct awards  with DIFFERENT standards.  Similarly, Qualified Teacher Status is another award with its own set of professional standards.  Those with Early Years Professional Status can refer to themselves as Early Years Teachers but  have achieved EYPS, not Early Years Teacher Status.  You cannot, therefore, have a certificate to say you have been awarded Early Y ears Teacher Status –   the confirmation of equivalence that you have been sent makes this clear and should be useful to you in explaining this to others, including employers.

This may seem confusing but we hope that this email helps in clarifying things.   

The newsletter text is below.  Please do keep in touch and share your good news stories.

Best wishes,

The Early Years Team at Best Practice Network

*************

 

So to clarify:

The DfE says that Early Years Professional Status is EQUIVALENT to but NOT THE SAME as Early Years Teacher Status. Best Practice Network also says that the Early Years Professional Status is EQUIVALENT to but NOT THE SAME as Early Years Teacher Status and are pleased to provide a written statement of ‘confirmation of EQUIVALENCE’. Yet in the next paragraph BPN seems to go to extraordinary lengths to explain how incredibly DIFFERENT the two qualifications are because they are NOT covering THE SAME set of standards for working with young children.

As, it is obvious to me and many others that the two sets of standards are NOT THE SAME, surely it will be necessary to provide additional training to top-up the now out-of-date and, apparently therefore, less desirable set of skills provided by Early Years Professionals in order that EQUIVALENT and SAME levels of Early Years provision can be ensured.

Most Early Years Professionals would have no problem with additional (FREE) training to keep their skills up to date. Indeed, this is a key part of their remit - to ensure continuous review and analysis of existing skills and systems so that provision can be continually developed and adjusted to suit changing criteria.

We were promised that if we worked hard, over a prolonged period, enduring an extremely rigorous assessment process, to achieve the particular skill set to provide the specific leadership skills for Early Years provision, as dictated by the DfE, then we would be suitably rewarded with the salary commensurate of a graduate led workforce.

Regrettably, I believe that Early Years Professionals are in serious danger of being side-lined. We should not have to provide a letter from our trainer that explains that we can be called an Early Years Teacher if we want. - I am afraid that although this ‘statement confirming equivalence’ is probably well-intentioned, it reminds me of the letter from your mum that explains you are too sick to go out at playtime but you are not too sick to be at school. – Just not convincing enough!

I would like to ask if any of us would be prepared to stand by and allow a child to experience this sort of treatment.

We have been trained as Early Years Professionals to be assertive and fight for the needs and rights of each, unique child. This we do as a commitment to those children and families we serve.

I BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD BEGIN TO FIGHT FOR THE NEEDS AND RIGHTS OF EACH EARLY YEARS PROFESSIONAL.

Please sign the petition:

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/department-for-education-please-address-the-inequality-between-early-years-teachers-eyps-or-eyts-and-teachers-with-qts

 

Response from the office of Ms Truss - Same old Bull**** !!!

This email was received by me today, 10th Sept 2013

It is yet another standard avoiding response from the office of Ms Truss. - Ms Truss is either unable or unwilling to respond to me directly, so each response is just a standard letter repeating the information from previously communicated responses.

She never responds to my key questions relating to actually paying EYPs/EYTs a salary commensurate with their standard of skill and level of responsibility and prefers to blame Sector managers for not paying a decent wage. My question remains - "Where is the money going to come from when EY funds have been decimated!

*************************************

Dear Mrs Dervey ,

Thank you for your email dated 16th August 2013 to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Elizabeth Truss regarding the status and pay of Early Years Teachers.  As an official responsible for this area of policy I have been asked to reply.

The Government recognises that teaching young children is just as important as teaching school-age children and the positive impact that Early Years Professionals have had on the quality of early education and care for pre-school children. This is why we are introducing Early Years Teachers from September 2013. We want to further promote the status and public recognition of the early years workforce. Early Years Professionals will continue to be valued and will be recognised as the equivalent of Early Years Teachers. We do not believe that Early Years Professionals need to obtain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in order to increase their status.   From September 2013, the entry requirements for those wishing to achieve Early Years Teachers will be the same as entry requirements to primary teacher training. Those successfully completing Early Years Teacher training will be awarded Early Years Teacher Status. This reflects the specialist role they have in the early education and care of babies and young children and the recognition they deserve. In terms of remuneration, the pay and conditions for staff working in early education and childcare settings outside maintained schools are best determined by employers at a local level. The majority of early years’ settings are private, voluntary or independently (PVI) owned and run. We would expect employers to want to pay Early Years Professionals and Early Years Teachers in accordance with their status. The same principle would also apply to an employee holding QTS working in a PVI setting. We want to give more autonomy to headteachers so they can decide who is best qualified and suited to teach in their schools. Free schools and academies can employ teaching staff without the requirement for them to have QTS and headteachers can set their own pay scales. In maintained schools, QTS is currently a requirement to be employed as a teacher and paid under the pay range for qualified teachers as set out in the School Teachers Pay and Conditions document. Headteachers have the discretion to employ staff without QTS to teach in schools, if they are satisfied the individual has relevant qualifications and experience. Those without QTS are normally paid according to the pay range for unqualified teachers. Further changes being introduced from September 2013, however, mean that headteachers will have even more flexibility and freedom on pay and will be able to place staff on the most appropriate point on the relevant pay scales. All routes to the award of QTS require that trainees demonstrate the Teachers’ Standards  across two or more consecutive age ranges. Ages 3-5 (Foundation stage) and ages 5-7 (School years 1-2) are the youngest age ranges included in the award of QTS. For the award of QTS, you would be required to demonstrate the Teachers’ Standards across both of these age ranges, hence the requirement for school experience when you enquired about accessing the Assessment Only route. You rightly recognise that your 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. Early Years Teachers are thus able to fulfil the needs of young children, parents and employers for high quality provision for children from birth to five.  Thank you for writing to the Department for Education on this important matter. Your correspondence has been allocated reference number 2013/0052021. If you need to respond to us, please visit: www.education.gov.uk/contactus, and quote your reference number. Yours sincerely, Gillian Gaskell