Taking the early years seriously: Rethinking workforce professionalism

JULIAN GRENIER, EARLY YEARS CONSULTANT AND AUTHOR, UK

Children’s learning in the early years is hugely important: growing research evidence backs this up. The first three years of life are the most sensitive time for brain development, with over 80 per cent of the brain formed by the end of this period and 90 per cent by age five (Lenroot and Giedd, 2006). The experiences that young children have – at home and in early years settings – are profoundly important.

While high-quality early years provision can play a part in equalising children’s life chances (Taggart et al., 2015), the current early years sector in England faces formidable funding and workforce problems. As a result, potential benefits are not being fully realised. In the case of children eligible for free school meals, nearly half of the 10.3-month attainment gap by the end of primary school is already evident by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) (Education Policy Institute, 2024).

The sector is further challenged by government policy to add ‘hundreds of thousands’ more funded places for children from nine months old (DfEDepartment for Education - a ministerial department responsible for children’s services and education in England, 2024), meaning that the sector will need 40,000 additional staff by September 2025 (Davies, 2024). The Labour Party manifesto also pledges the creation of 3,000 new early years settings, based in school buildings and using space freed up by falling rolls. These might be part of the school’s provision or run by an external provider.

It has never been more important for school leaders to think about the quality of early years provision, both in their own school and in local settings, and the workforce needed for this rapid expansion.

Challenges facing the early years workforce

The early years workforce is characterised by high turnover and low pay, especially in the private sector. The 2023 statistics from the Department for EducationThe ministerial department responsible for children’s services and education in England showed that staff turnover in private nurseries was an unsustainable 21 per cent, compared to eight per cent in schools (Office for National Statistics, 2023). Pay is low: in 2019, the Education Policy Institute reported that 45 per cent of early years staff claim state benefits or tax credits, a situation that is unlikely to have improved since. The National Careers Service website (2024) suggests that the typical salary range for a nursery worker is from £16,000 for a starter to £24,000 for an experienced member of staff – similar to sales assistants in shops (£13,000 rising to £26,000). Yet more than three-quarters of staff in the private sector are qualified early years educators, with a level 3 or above. Given the demands of the role and the level of qualification, remuneration is poor.

In schools, pay and conditions are more favourable and staff retention is much better, leading Sakr et al. (2024) to the conclusion that England has ‘a two-tier system’ (p. 104).

Ways forward: What can schools do?

It is in everyone’s interests that children get off to the best start. It matters to families, schools, society and, most importantly, the children themselves. The current fragility of the early years sector puts that goal in jeopardy.

Simply offering up unused classrooms to providers where pupil numbers are falling will not substantively change that. Nor will a ‘hands-off’ approach to expanding a school’s own early years provision, without expert and supportive leadership from the top. Reconceptualising professionalism and the role of schools in the early years offers a more positive way forward.

At school level, this is about an extended professionalism: leading the local system of early education and care beyond the school gate. The National Professional Qualification for Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL) includes an important emphasis on working in partnership with different agencies and services. This could be extended to include locality-based partnership work across the sectors in early years, focused on professional development. An example of such a programme is the 2021 Newham Communication Project (NCP). In this project, practitioners from private and community nurseries took part in year-long professional development alongside colleagues from school-based early years provision (James et al., 2023). The programme was accessible to small settings, which have traditionally been unable to afford high-quality, sustained professional development.

NCP used a translational ‘research-to-practice’ design, strongly rooted in close partnerships between the schools and local private nurseries. ‘Translational research’ (Graham et al., 2005) is an approach drawn from the health field, aiming to ‘bridge’ findings from research into practical approaches that improve people’s health. In the case of NCP, this approach ensured that robust research evidence about boosting children’s early communication was put into everyday practice, reaching local children beyond those in school.

This partnership between early years settings and schools was important for another reason: interventions that work in the early years can fade as children grow older. By engaging Reception teachers and school leaders, the approaches in NCP could be continued into the first years of school. This follow-through is important. The American researchers Jenkins et al. (2018) investigated why the benefits of a high-quality early childhood maths curriculum appeared to fade as children went through school. They found that additional professional development for kindergarten and first grade teachers (equivalent to Reception and Year 1 in England) ‘all but eliminated the fadeout of effects on math achievement observed between kindergarten and first grade’ (Jenkins et al., 2018, p. 369).

The traditional understanding of how early years practitioners work together to lead change is also increasingly challenged by research, with Sakr et al. (2024) describing the rise of ‘distributed leadership’ in the early years, ‘with an emphasis on interdependent collaboration… [moving] away from the charismatic “boss” towards the creation of a generative space between individuals working together’ (p. 102). As schools make physical space available for new nurseries, it is important for leaders to consider making that ‘generative space’ available as well. This would enable staff across the sectors to connect and learn together. The Education Endowment Foundation advises that effective professional development in the early years requires building knowledge about practice, and also social support to help practitioners to sustain their engagement and change what they do every day (EEF, 2023). Partnerships between schools and early years settings could create these favourable conditions for such effective professional development.

Perceptions matter

Arguably, the low pay of early years practitioners drives the perception that the role is low-status. An example of this is the ‘hair or care’ stereotype, described in the interim report for the review of early education and childcare qualifications in England (Nutbrown, 2012). In her report, Professor Nutbrown describes how young women are shunted into childcare training by job centres, despite showing no interest in the field. Similarly, the Education Policy Institute comments on ‘the culture, in some schools and colleges, that childcare should only be seen as a route for those with low prior-attainment’ (2019).

Such stereotypes may provide a useful shorthand, but they are risky. The ‘hair or care’ stereotype can demean two jobs traditionally carried out by young women. Beyond describing the realities of these roles, it inscribes caring for and educating young children as low in status. It reinforces rather than relaxes the gendered norms that reduce the status of the work that women do.

On the other hand, there are many telling examples of the capability of early years practitioners. The executive report on the highly effective Early Talk for York programme (City of York, 2022) notes that practitioners engaged readily with professional challenge. They successfully used a standardised tool to screen children’s language development and implemented approaches from a research-informed toolkit. Participants reported that the quality of their referrals had improved; they spoke about being more confident about when to make a referral and when in-setting support would be sufficient.

Similarly, my own doctoral research describes a project that enabled practitioners in private early years settings to take part in sustained professional learning about evidence-informed practice. I found that ‘widely-held assumptions that early years practitioners are lacking in the capacity to reflect on and theorise their work are not supported’ (Grenier, 2013, p. 3).

Concluding thoughts

Many structural aspects of the early years system in England urgently need addressing, notably the particularly poor pay and conditions of staff in the private sector. Alongside these structural problems, there are issues around perception and opportunity that are also worth attending to, and where schools could play a positive role. 

Schools are well placed to create a ‘generative space’ for early years practitioners to work in across the different sectors, bringing together communities of practice to improve quality in the early years. An example of this is the NCP, described as ‘a participatory approach where the researchers and participants co-construct, collaborate and engage in a community of research, practice and shared enquiry to improve practice’ (Harmey et al., 2022).

The concept of ‘extended professionalism’ in early years leadership, yoking together an emphasis on research evidence with a wider sense of commitment to all young children locally, might help the shift towards rethinking and valuing the professionalism of the early years workforce. It is important to respect practitioners’ talents, while also recognising the need for workforce development. As Sakr et al. (2024, p. 104) note, it is not just low pay that is demotivating staff: ‘when asked about leaving the sector, individuals reported that the gravest challenges were feeling undervalued alongside the poor pay and conditions’.

While this is a challenging time for the early years, it is also a hopeful time. Substantial investment, the prospect of expanding provision and a growing understanding of what makes professional development effective create an opportunity for school leaders to work with the wider sector. In turn, this holds out the promise of a renewed focus on professionalism in the early years, underpinned by improved pay and conditions and higher status.