Delivering high-quality care and education for babies and
toddlers takes skill and expertise, meaning experience and
qualifications among early years workers matter when it comes to
the youngest children's development, new research by Ofsted
shows.
Ofsted's report, published today, looks at how early years
practitioners care for and educate babies and toddlers up until
they are 2 years old. The aim of the report is to help early
years leaders and staff refine their approach to supporting the
youngest children.
Read the full report: Getting it right from the
start: how early years practitioners work with babies and
toddlers
The report highlights the importance of practitioner experience
and qualifications, finding that those with greater experience
and a higher level of qualifications had better knowledge of
child development.
The research also considered to what extent practitioners use the
early years foundation
stage (EYFS)
statutory framework when educating and caring for toddlers
and babies. It found that the ‘key person' role is a strength of
many providers, with early years practitioners recognising that
this role is vital for babies and toddlers.
Ofsted also found:
-
most practitioners recognise the importance of positive
relationships with parents in helping them support children
more effectively
-
communication and language, and personal, social and
emotional development were well understood by practitioners,
but they did not always understand how they could support
physical development as well
-
there is some work to do in understanding how routine times
can be used for high-quality interactions, particularly where
mixed ages are grouped together
-
some survey responses reflected a misconception that babies
and toddlers are too young to be taught anything
-
some of the challenges considered in the research may be
partly influenced by ongoing difficulties in recruiting and
retaining experienced practitioners
The report sets out a series of recommendations for
practitioners, managers and policy-makers to achieve the best
possible outcomes for babies and toddlers. Foremost is support
for practitioners to take part in professional development
specific to babies and toddlers to improve their qualifications
and experience.
Jayne Coward, Ofsted's Deputy Director of Early Years Regulatory
Policy and Practice, said:
We know that a child's first few years are crucial to their
future learning and development. By providing children with an
excellent start in those first two years, we can ensure that they
gain the foundation they need to thrive throughout school and
beyond.
With the government's childcare reforms, we can expect to see an
increase in the number of babies and toddlers accessing early
education. It's vital we get it right for all of these children
from the very start. I hope that this report helps early years
practitioners to continue reflecting on and refining their
approach to supporting our very youngest children.
Notes to editors
- The report draws on a series of visits to early years
settings, a survey, inspector focus groups and a literature
review.
- Ofsted will be considering these findings when developing
inspector training.
