ATL

Early years provision across the UK

ATL believes that education should develop children and young people to become critical readers, writers, thinkers and communicators; who understand the ways that their lives are shaped by history/society, and the potential for their own agency within it; who enjoy learning and are motivated to continue.

Early education should not be about shaping children for school, but a place where children and families come together with professionals to build a vibrant community of learning. All children must have fair access to high quality early education.

Young children are powerful and active learners, already deeply committed to the project of exploring and understanding the world.

Learning is complex, is affected by children's prior knowledge and understanding, and shaped by their interests. It does not occur in a vacuum, but is shaped by culture, gender, class and other factors. It is not a single trajectory along which children can be plotted, with defined points for children to hurry through on the way to the next one.

Early years teaching demands a high level of knowledge, including:

• comprehensive knowledge across subjects and an understanding of different ways to teach those subjects in ways that children can learn

• thorough pedagogic knowledge (teaching through play, structuring interactions between children to support and challenge learning)

• knowledge of children's prior understanding, attitudes to learning and family background.

ATL calls for the following:

Local partnerships for early years provision

Early years provision comprises an array of maintained, private, voluntary and independent settings offering a range of services including childcare, schooling, learning, family support and early intervention, for children from birth to at least seven years of age. No single type of setting offers the full range of services. ATL believes that schools, including nursery schools, should be at the heart of early education provision.

A local partnership infrastructure, maintained with expert leadership and local governance, and with adequate funding, should support early years settings, including schools, nursery schools, children's centres and pre- schools, to work together.

Early education provision to age seven

International research and member evidence indicates that expecting children to follow an overly-formal, narrow academic curriculum at too young an age is counter- productive and damaging to their learning. Provision for children up to the age of seven should be based on good early years principles, aims and practices, which are developed by professionals and given cross-party support in government. From age three, the education element of early years provision should be teacher-led.

Staged transition

Families and children should be able to move between settings, knowing that people in each setting will know the needs/interests of the child. Children should have opportunities for 'staged transition', spending increasingly more time in the 'next' setting rather than having a single annual point of transfer for all.

Expectations of when children should be in full-time school-based provision differ across the UK. ATL believes that early education, following a play-based curriculum, should take place increasingly in schools up to age seven. These models work best when supported through across- setting and extended services partnerships.

Teams of professionals: within settings and across partnerships

Professional teams should comprise a range of skills, with passion for and knowledge about early years and the needs of young children common to all. Early years practitioners should be well qualified and highly skilled, with access to continuing professional development (CPD) and commensurate pay and conditions. Early years qualified teachers should be involved in all aspects of children's learning; supporting planning, through day-to- day engagement with children and reviewing progress. Partnerships might also wish to explore the possibility of engaging specialists in other fields, for example artists, to work with them.

Early years professionals should work together to reflect on and share practice and information about children; sharing professional support such as early years SEN and outreach workers between settings; supporting each other and developing professional accountability for children's learning and well-being; and developing collective strength to argue for the best provision for children.

Clear-sighted and effective leadership is crucial to achieve these aims.

High quality teaching, based on the best evidence of how children learn

Children learn through planned and structured play both indoors and outside, talk, sustained shared thinking, by exploring real world experiences and in inspiring learning environments. In the early years, and elsewhere, teaching is as much about dialogue and relationships as it is about instructional techniques.

Teaching through play requires a deep understanding of subject disciplines and ways of learning, as well as skills of planning, observing and assessing. It involves use of teaching techniques that engage children's focussed attention, and flexibility to develop deep learning in areas suggested by children themselves.

Evidence suggests that an increase in mixed age provision, where children play and learn alongside older and younger peers, can benefit both cognitive and social development.

A light early years curriculum framework, with content developed at local level

Education is concerned with the whole person as a physical, moral, social, emotional and intellectual being and all pupils are entitled to access a broad and balanced curriculum. The early years curriculum framework should set out key areas of learning, skills and attitudes for children from age three to seven. Professionals, led by teachers, should interpret the framework at local authority (LA) level, based on a needs analysis which is set in the context of a national entitlement and strategy but is rooted in local circumstances.

Formative assessment that supports learning and continually improves teaching

Formative assessment lies at the heart of providing a supporting and stimulating environment for every child. Teacher assessment must be based on observation of children's everyday activities, underpinned by the curriculum principles, and moderated by the profession, rather than focussed exclusively on outcomes and the attendant risk of a tick-list approach.

Accountability for children across a local partnership

Early years professionals should share responsibility for children in a local area. This should be supported by local governance structures, peer-led moderations of practice and sharing/analysis of meaningful information about children's learning. Systems should be in place to support comparisons of assessment information across 'families' of partnerships, in order to ensure professional challenge. This may be supported through local area inspections within a national framework.

Professional development for all which supports good early years practice

Initial teacher education and CPD in the early years should include subject and pedagogical knowledge, skills of teaching through play, observation, formative assessment practice, understanding children's behaviour and how to plan curriculum areas to meet children's needs and interests, as well as development of supportive family/parent relationships, and working with external services.

Initial teacher education for all teachers should include knowledge of child development, information about preceding and following stages of education, and skills for using research to inform practice.

Training for headteachers needs to emphasise understanding across the education stages, particularly the opportunities and challenges within the early years.

ATL's recommendations strive to increase understanding of the importance of the early years sector.

• For early years teachers, leaders and support staff, this means improved access to high- quality, appropriate initial teacher education and CPD, effective partnerships, flexibility in practice and increased confidence in their professional decisions and responsibilities.

• For LAs, this means receipt of sustainable funding to support partnerships.

• For children and their families, this means having access to flexible, high-quality provision.

• Specific implications for institutional arrangements will be different across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.