Why we need workforce reform in the early years

Early years practice has changed significantly over the past few decades.

Today, schools report that they have many more children arriving into Reception who are not ”school-ready” - whether in terms of their learning or their personal, social and emotional development - than ever before.

Yet the early years workforce has not significantly changed to adapt to those different needs.

It’s not because there isn’t evidence to suggest what might work better: robust research studies such as the Effective pre-school, primary and secondary education project show that better levels of staff qualification in the early years are associated with better outcomes for children.

Meanwhile, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)’s guidance on the deployment of teaching assistants offers many findings we can sensibly apply to the early years.

Read on (£) in TES