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Improving Quality of Services in the Early
Years Sector (in Surrey, England)
Mary MacKenzie
One of 42 English counties Situated south of London Population 1.1 million 272,400 children 0-19 years 9.9% live in poverty In “pockets of disadvantage”
Surrey, England
Quality measures are designed to serve different purposes:
Regulation
Research
Improving practice
What is quality?
EPPE Project (the Effective Provision of Pre-school Education)
Carried out between 1997 and 2003 First major European study of young
children’s development between ages 3 and 7 years
Children tracked to find out how different sorts of pre-school education care would affect their development
The EPPE Project
Attending pre-school enhances all round development in children
High quality pre-schooling is related to better intellectual and social/behavioural development
Settings with higher qualified staff have higher quality scores and children progress more
Quality of home learning environment is vital
Findings of EPPE Project
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”
Nelson Mandela
Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education)
Environmental Rating Scales (ECERS-R, ECERS-E and ITERS-R)
Quality Assurance/Improvement schemes
How is quality measured in England
NQIN supports providers to improve outcomes for young children
Informs national policy on quality improvement
All quality improvement frameworks are based around the ten Quality Improvement principles
National Quality Improvement Network (NQIN)
“A rich child often sits on a poor parent’s lap”
- Danish proverb
Quality and Inequality – Nuffield Foundation (2014) Government maintained schools in
disadvantaged areas offer quality for 3-4 year olds comparable with those schools serving the more advantaged (using ECERS and ITERS)
Quality was lower in settings in deprived areas within private, voluntary and independent sector
Evident in quality of interactions, support for learning, language and literacy and diversity
Settings with a graduate member of staff scored more highly on all quality measures
Recent research findings:
Latest EPPE (or EPPSE 3-16 as now entitled) report launched 9 September 2014
Entitled “Students Educational and Developmental Outcomes at Age 16”
Found pre-school attendance predicted higher total GCSE scores
Quality of pre-school predicted both total GCSE scores and English and Maths grades
Attending quality pre-school predicted greater likelihood of following an academic pathway
“Hot off the press……”
Adopted and adapted quality kitemark in 2006
Called it the Surrey Quality Assurance Scheme
Started with a pilot scheme of 20 settings
Each setting mentor supported
Quality Improvement in Surrey
Settings chose to participate
Needed to have a good or outstanding Ofsted outcome
It was free!
Settings did not receive any financial reimbursement for participating
Quality Improvement in Surrey
Focused on Every Child Matters 5 modules in a question and answer format
with prompts to assist practitioners Evidence produced to uphold the answers Development Plan for identifying areas of
improvement Mentor supported
How the scheme worked
Ofsted ratings improved
59% of QIA participants went from a Good to an Outstanding outcome whereas the national average was 13%
Self evaluation became part of practice for all staff
It covers all areas of practice in a controlled way
It develops an ethos of on going reflective practice
Benefits from QIA
Too labour intensive and paper heavy At first settings did not involve all staff Time was a big issue Sometimes staff felt it was being done to
them rather than it being their scheme Tended to be an affirmation of good practice
rather than a reflective tool
Pitfalls and lessons learnt
Business, leadership, management, practice and provision are at its heart
Written with the help of practitioners who had been involved in earlier versions
Concentrated on simplicity and ease of use Range of assessment tools including
Environmental Rating Scales
Revised scheme
Being reflective in our approach Focusing on the process rather than the end
product Acted on actions arising from interim and
final evaluations with participants From their suggestions we adapted the
scheme and method of working Have focused on quality improvement
rather than an affirmation of general practice
Lessons learnt in our team
Maintaining the good quality of practice in settings which have completed the scheme
Focusing on settings in disadvantaged areas Targeting settings which have received a Requires Improvement or Satisfactory Ofsted outcome Different priorities from the Department of Education
Challenges we face
We offer a range of tools for settings to use in conjunction with targeted support from Early Years staff Quality Improvement Program Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements
audit Environmental Rating Scales audits Wonder Years program (Baby room project) Free entitlement for two year olds audit Early language audits
Benefits of an extensive quality improvement program
Sylva,K., Meluish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I and Taggart, B (2010) Early childhood matters: Evidence from the Effective Pre-school and Primary Education project. London: Routledge.
Department for Education (2012) Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage. Setting the standard for learning, development and care for children from birth to five
Field, F., (2010) The Foundation Years: preventing poor children becoming poor adults. The Report of the Independent Review on Poverty and Life Chances.
Harms, T., Cryer, D and Clifford, R.M. (2003) Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale: Revised Edition. New York, NY:
Mathers, S. Singler, R. & Karemaker A. (2012) Improving quality in the early years: a comparison of perspectives and measures. London Oxford: university of Oxford and Daycare Trust.
Nutbrown, C., (2012) Review of Early Education and Childcare Qualifications: Interim Report . London. Department for Education DfE.
References
Thank you.
Any Questions?