It’s hard to argue against a kindergarten stage without looking like some kind of monster who doesn’t want to let the children play. But now that the SNP conference has backed a resolution calling for a universal kindergarten stage from 3 to 6, it is crucial that we spell out exactly what we mean by this.
Firstly, it’s important to point out that although the motion was backed overwhelmingly at the SNP conference on Monday, it will not necessarily become Scottish government policy.
But undoubtedly, the ideas expressed in the resolution that “Scotland and the UK are outliers in Europe in starting education at four or five” and that “children under six should not face the pressures and structures of the formal school system” are gaining traction.
Before the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections, the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Lib Dems had proposed raising the school starting age as manifesto pledges. And now, of course, the Greens have a power-sharing agreement with the SNP.
However, it was also argued at the SNP conference by Toni Giugliano, the party’s policy development convener, who made the case for introducing a kindergarten stage, saying that it would end the assessments in early primary that were putting “pressure” on children - and pressure on teachers to teach “the three Rs”.
The mass testing of P1 children’s literacy and numeracy through the Scottish Standardised National Assessments (SNSAs) is a highly controversial Scottish government policy. If the tests are the issue, you might expect campaigners to focus on scrapping them - and the collection of the data on whether children are hitting the expected level for their age and stage - rather than calling for a more general overhaul of the early years.
However, there are those who believe that a broader move towards a more play-based approach could bring huge rewards.
Writing in Tes Scotland this week, additional support needs teacher Karen McInnes makes the case for “stepping away from a standardised curriculum experience and working towards a more tactile, play-based experience”. And, of course, campaign group Upstart Scotland - chaired by former primary head Sue Palmer - has long been arguing for “a relationship-centred, play-based kindergarten stage (from age 3-7), based on the Nordic model”.
In her piece, McInnes argues that children “can learn so much from a play-based experience with the emphasis on building positive relationships and learning those discrete skills of group work, turn taking and waiting.” And she says she is “thrilled to see its importance recognised and appreciated” and that the opportunity should be “grasped firmly with both hands”.
In Scotland, children aged 3 and 4 are now entitled to as much time in nursery as school-aged children spend in school. The potential to encourage interests, introduce them to new experiences and to get them outside and engaging with nature is, therefore, huge.
But to make the most of this opportunity - and then to continue the approach into P1 - will take highly skilled, highly educated professionals.
The researchers behind the longitudinal study Growing Up in Scotland have actually warned that the increase in nursery hours in Scotland could harm children’s development if the quality of the provision dips. And, in large part, what determines that quality is staff.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Starting Strong report, published in 2017, said: “It is now widely accepted that within [early childhood education and care (ECEC)] settings, teachers and pedagogical staff are the most important factors that influence child wellbeing, development and learning.”
In Scotland, teacher numbers in the early years have been falling for years. According to the latest figures - published in December last year - there are now just 704 nursery teachers working in Scotland. In 2010 there were 1,504 full-time equivalent teachers working in the sector.
Official figures show that, on average, there are 130 children for every teacher working in the early years sector.
In June, in his final address to an EIS teaching union annual general meeting, outgoing general secretary Larry Flanagan brought up Scotland’s efforts to close the attainment gap between rich and poor, and said that “securing the role of nursery teachers is the most fundamental step to achieving that”.
It’s not just degree-qualified teachers who work in the early years, however. Overall in Scotland, there are 24 children for every graduate with a degree-level qualification - or working towards a degree-level qualification - relevant to the early years.
As ever though, this masks considerable variation between councils. In Highland there are 54 nursery children per graduate; in East Lothian, there are 45; in Glasgow, Stirling and East Dunbartonshire there are 16.
In Glasgow, this will be, in part at least, because that authority has benefited from the government promise to recruit 435 additional graduates to nurseries in the most deprived areas by August 2018.
A long way to go
Overall, however, that target still has not been met four years on from the date by which it was supposed to be realised. The most up-to-date official figures show that 327 graduates have been recruited; Glasgow has benefitted from 63 of them.
So how does all of this compare to the Nordic countries the SNP conference was told Scotland is seeking to emulate?
The OECD publishes figures comparing education systems worldwide. The latest version of this report - Education at a Glance 2022 - came out earlier this month. It shows that in Iceland there are five children for every teacher in pre-primary education; in Finland, there are nine; in Denmark, there are 10; in Norway, there are 12, and in Sweden, there are 14.
So Scotland with its 130 children per teacher has a long way to go - even if all graduates (and those working towards degree-level qualifications) are taken into account, the ratio is still 24 children per graduate.
It has long been argued that we need to turn funding for education on its head and frontload it - with the early years of a child’s education receiving the highest levels of investment. Recently, the government has invested heavily in the early years, but the focus has been on increasing the time children spend in nursery for free, not on training or better pay for staff.
To continue to pump money into early years provision until we have the same level of highly trained staff working in the sector as the Nordic countries could indeed be transformational - but Scotland needs to be honest about where it is now, and crystal clear about how it’s going to get to where it wants to go.
This cannot be an underfunded change hastily introduced because “kindergarten stage” sounds progressive and is a nice soundbite - not when the wellbeing of the youngest children is at stake.
Emma Seith is a senior reporter at Tes Scotland. She tweets @Emma_Seith
