Early years practitioners broadly support Government plans

Early years practitioners broadly support Government plans to give school governing bodies in England new powers to offer services to the local community, such as childcare. Ninety per cent of respondents welcomed the proposals in a Department for Education and Skills consultation, 'Better Beginnings - Improving quality and increasing provision in early years education and childcare', published earlier this year. But some thought that governors should not be expected to provide such services without substantial extra resources and training, while others worried that governing bodies would view extended services as a profit-making venture, and suggested that the quality of provision should be closely monitored. On other issues, 10 per cent welcomed the proposal to replace the current baseline assessment arrangements with a single national profile at the end of the Foundation Stage, based on the Early Learning Goals, while 2 per cent were strongly opposed, arguing that this would inevitably lead to the construction of league tables of performance for early years providers. Six per cent regretted the demise of the registered nursery inspector. They were concerned about the quality of Ofsted inspections and felt many inspectors did not have in-depth knowledge of the Foundation Stage.