OECD Country Note Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in The
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OECD Country Note Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in the United Kingdom December 2000 The United Kingdom has granted the OECD permission to include this document on the OECD Internet Home Page. The views expressed in the document are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the United Kingdom, the OECD or its Member countries. The copyright conditions governing access to information on the OECD Home Page are provided at http://www.oecd.org/copyr.htm/ TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................4 Purposes of the OECD Thematic Review....................................................................................................4 The United Kingdom’s participation in the review .....................................................................................4 Structure of the report..................................................................................................................................5 Acknowledgements......................................................................................................................................6 Terminology.................................................................................................................................................6 CHAPTER 2: CONTEXT OF ECEC IN THE UNITED KINGDOM............................................................8 Evolution of ECEC in the UK .....................................................................................................................8 The State sector ........................................................................................................................................8 The voluntary and private sector..............................................................................................................9 Demographic background..........................................................................................................................10 Labour context and the employment of women.........................................................................................11 Families and the social policy context.......................................................................................................11 Governmental structure..............................................................................................................................12 CHAPTER 3: OVERVIEW OF CURRENT ECEC POLICY AND PROVISION IN THE UK..................13 Current forms of ECEC services................................................................................................................13 Provision for children birth to three .......................................................................................................14 Provision for children three to five.........................................................................................................15 Child care for children three to five .......................................................................................................16 Combined education and care ................................................................................................................16 Quality assurance and inspection ...........................................................................................................17 Staffing: Classifications, qualifications, staff-child ratios, and salaries ....................................................18 Job classifications and qualifications .....................................................................................................18 Ratios and salaries..................................................................................................................................19 Curriculum.................................................................................................................................................20 Family engagement and support ................................................................................................................21 Funding......................................................................................................................................................22 Data collection, research, and evaluation ..................................................................................................22 Recent policy initiatives.............................................................................................................................23 Statutory maternity and parental leave...................................................................................................24 The Childcare Tax Credit.......................................................................................................................24 The National Childcare Strategy ............................................................................................................24 Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships ..........................................................................25 Sure Start................................................................................................................................................25 The Early Excellence Centres Pilot Programme ....................................................................................25 Education Action Zones.........................................................................................................................28 Health Action Zones...............................................................................................................................28 2 New approaches to ratios, staffing, qualifications and training .............................................................28 CHAPTER 4: ISSUES RELATING TO POLICY AND PRACTICE..........................................................31 Views of children and families ..................................................................................................................31 System co-ordination and collaboration ....................................................................................................32 The continuing division between education and care ............................................................................33 The complexity of funding arrangements ..............................................................................................34 The decentralisation of responsibilities..................................................................................................34 Access and equity ......................................................................................................................................35 Access to early years provision..............................................................................................................35 Access to child care................................................................................................................................36 Access for children in need of special support.......................................................................................37 Staffing ......................................................................................................................................................37 Staff training and qualifications .............................................................................................................38 Recruitment, retention, and working conditions ....................................................................................38 Approaches to early learning .....................................................................................................................39 Quality assurance and inspection...............................................................................................................40 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS....................................................................................................................41 Creating a more comprehensive and co-ordinated early childhood system...............................................41 Expanding access to full-time provision for all children ...........................................................................42 Reconciling work and family responsibilities............................................................................................43 Improving staff training and terms of conditions.......................................................................................44 Broadening the approaches to early learning.............................................................................................44 Supporting a quality assurance and inspection regime that respects diversity ..........................................46 Developing a research agenda that considers alternative paradigms .........................................................46 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................48 APPENDIX I: OECD REVIEW TEAM .......................................................................................................51 APPENDIX II: INFORMATION ON THE UNITED KINGDOM BACKGROUND REPORT.................52 APPENDIX III: PROGRAMME OF THE REVIEW VISIT........................................................................55 3 CHAPTER