This letter has appeared in the Telegraph today signed by all those who were going to attend the meeting that Truss cancelled this week.
Childminders need proper training - Telegraph
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This letter has appeared in the Telegraph today signed by all those who were going to attend the meeting that Truss cancelled this week.
Childminders need proper training - Telegraph
Thank you for sharing - felt that the letter was a bit short though surely they could have mentioned that it was originally in the More Great Childcare debate that it was felt that everyone working with children should have an appropriate level 3 or that most of the funding has been removed for local authority training courses.
Little steps they are doing all you say and more all the time don't worry. They don't always shout about what they are doing.
I think it's an unfortunate headline, the title is a little concerning
Nice to see everyone working together rather than against each other
Well done to every agency involved, long may the collaboration continue
Yes Debbie it is isn't it. It is this group that met with Truss last year. They all got together last year and had a number of meeting so they were sure they were all singing from the same hymn sheet so to speak and to unite as one force speaking for childminders. It was also decided that anyone of them can attend meeting (with the others knowledge) and speak for all of them which means that more bases can be covered. I think it is a brilliant idea.
This is a copy of the letter that was sent to the paper before they edited it!
Just for interest - this is the letter sent to the Telegraph - before it was edited
To The Editor,
As a sector we are sceptical of government’s approach to driving quality improvements in the early years. This is following announcements this week on proposals to introduce baseline testing for four year olds and extended nursery provision through increased collaboration between childminders and school based nursery settings.
Liz Truss has written to childminders across the country detailing her support for the profession. Ms Truss states that childminder agencies will make working in the profession easier, and cites improved working relationships between childminders and school-based nursery settings. But as a sector we are still concerned that childminder agencies will not help childminders to improve their expertise or deliver benefits for families. Government focus should remain on supporting improvement in the quality of training, which will have a positive long-term influence on children’s learning, well-being, care and overall development.
It’s encouraging that Ofsted will have a role in assessing the performance of childminder agencies but we still need to see detailed plans of how individual childminders will be assessed and supported to drive their expertise.
We continue to have reservations that government is taking the right steps to ensure that all childcare professionals are equally supported to deliver a high quality of care. The new system has to be about quality as much as provision and cost, and the childcare sector remains unconvinced that agencies, baseline testing and channelling more childcare services through school nursery settings are the right way forward.
Childminders in particular are disappointed at government’s lack of engagement with them as sector professionals, and are committed to working in partnership with the Department of Education and all third sector organisations, given the opportunity.
As you can see - a much better version (well I think so)
Quote:
Originally Posted by rickysmiths
What a shame the original was edited so much! Thank you for posting the original, it makes much more sense lol
I agree and have posted a comment on LinkedIn to that effect...the title got me in the first place....but the letter is in The Telegraph and I am not surprised they have edited it to such extent and to such result.Quote:
Originally Posted by Smiley
I wonder if it had been printed in The Independent or The Guardian what the message would have been?
It is good to see the original version of the letter which has been posted here...why not under the UKCMA section they enjoy in this forum but never use puzzles me.
I will discuss the letter with my association this week when we meet.
It is really a worry how little we info share ...I know we are not allowed here but elsewhere we are.
The letter contains very valid points on the worries about the policies recently announced: baseline testing, partnership working with schools and CMs agencies and all that will be connected to them
I am not in the least being critical because what is raised in the letter is pertinent but I want to see more questions asked about ICMs...we are the ones waiting for answers, we are the ones being ignored by Truss and Ofsted and kept hanging regarding our future
A group of us, including the letter signatory CM, were involved in a tweeting session yesterday and trying hard to trace any CMs involved in the agency trials with whom we could start a debate....to no avail
Rickysmiths...are we allowed to share the un-edited version of the letter? I can only imagine it was posted on FB but I would not be able to access it there....I can always ask the signatories if we are.
In any case thanks for posting it...it certainly makes a lot more sense than the edited version
I have been told we can post the original version so I am off to share it elsewhere so more people can access it.
You beat me to it. Yes anything from the website or FB group can be shared as far as I am aware the wider the message is spread the better. We all need to be speaking with a single voice in the issue of Agencies and Truss don't we.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simona
The original letter, which PLA gave me permission to post early this morning, is now available all over twitter and LinkedIn and will reach allQuote:
Originally Posted by rickysmiths
PLA have issued a fantastic response endorsing CMs and our contribution...here is a snippet
“The focus of the edited letter seems to be almost exclusively on childminder training, and could be read by some as implying that childminders are currently under‑qualified. On the contrary, we recognise that the substantial experience and expertise that childminders possess is crucial to the continued delivery of high‑quality childcare and so we feel that it’s vital that they continue to be supported in their professional development — but we are far from convinced that childminder agencies are the best way to achieve this''.