My presentation for the launch of Helen Penn's book at the UCL IOE - What have we lost and what have we gained in early childhood education and care?

1. Dr Julian Grenier
grenier@outlook.com
@juliangrenier
What kind of
provision?
Maintained Nursery Schools, 2018

3. Susan Isaacs
Nursery
School:
closed 2016

4. Do nursery
schools still
matter?

7. Ofsted ratings

8. “The only early
education provision that
is at least as strong, or
even stronger, in
deprived areas
compared with
wealthier areas is
nursery schools”
(Ofsted, 2014).

10. Nursery
schools
as system
leaders

11. Learning
in the
early
years
• We claim expertise in
early learning.
• But are we effective
learning
organisations
ourselves?
• Beacon schools and
Early Excellence
Centres were the
wrong models.

12. Professional
development
• Nursery schools have
many of the structural
conditions needed for
professional learning.
• Have universities been
better at developing
policy and theoretical
critiques than helping
early years
practitioners to improve
our pedagogy?
• Can we create
Professional
Development in a new
space?

13. Incoherence
• The early years system in
England is clearly in a mess
• Differences between the
sectors include
• Premises
• Qualification levels
• National pay and
conditions
• Local accountability
• Funding, profit and
cashflow

16. Equality
• “Pre-school cannot eliminate
the adverse effects of
disadvantage but it can
ameliorate these. Pre-school,
especially if it is of high quality,
can act as a ‘protective’ factor
for disadvantaged children … Of
particular importance is the
finding that having attended a
high quality pre-school reduced
the effects of multiple
disadvantage on later
attainment and progress in
primary school (Hall et al.,
2012).” Effective pre-school,
primary and secondary
education project (EPPSE 3-16+)

17. Equality
• Taking a reflexive approach: the
problems of child inequality
can’t be tackled merely through
effectiveness
• Outcomes data is problematic
• My own professional journey
from Tower Hamlets in 1990 to
Newham today

18. EYPP: progress

19. EYPP: outcomes

20. Longer term outcomes
Former Sheringham pupil at
Newham school
England
Reading expected level % 77% 74%
Writing expected level % 72% 65%
Maths expected level % 75% 73%
Science expected level % 79% 82%
Cohort 97

21. Recent
research
funded by the
Froebel Trust
at Sheringham
• “Exceptional gains were made by two of the
initially lowest attaining children.”
• “The majority of children made significant
progress over the course of the study. Whilst
approximately one third (7) of children
made age-appropriate gains of 7-8 months,
twice that number (14) showed gains
ranging between 15 and 26 months. The
strength of the qualitative and quantitative
data lend confidence to a conclusion that
WD may have had a beneficial effect on
children’s behaviour.”
• Elfer et al (2018): DEVELOPING CLOSE,
THOUGHTFUL ATTENTION TO CHILDREN
AND FAMILIES IN THE EARLY YEARS
PEDAGOGY Evaluating the impact of Work
Discussion Groups as a model of
Professional Support and Reflection

22. The impact of
poverty
As Professor Michael Young
argues in the current issue of
Impact we can’t put our sole
emphasis on the curriculum
as a way of helping
disadvantaged children. We
need to address the root
causes, like child poverty.
Do we put so much focus on
structure and inter-sector
rivalry that we don't see the
condition of childhood and
family life?