Better pay, higher status and less prejudice are needed to attract men to work in early years, say school leaders.

Just 2 per cent of staff working in early years education are men, according to the most recent Department for Education survey.

And this week, delegates at the NAHT heads’ union’s annual conference will be discussing whether to call on the government to do more to increase the numbers of men working in early years.

James Bowen, director of NAHT Edge, said the perceived low status of working with pre-school children could be one factor for the low numbers - as well as relatively poor pay compared with other teachers.

“It’s important for all children to experience positive male role models and to understand that men can be interested in education, science or reading, just as much as in football,” Mr Bowen said.

“The lack of male teachers in early years is partly due to the perceived lack of status and importance this phase of education can have, and the subsequent lower pay early years roles can attract. This fails to recognise that early years education is one of the most vital moments in a child’s education, and the point at which attainment and life chances can be set.”

Adam Robbins, deputy headteacher of Roding Primary School in East London, said his school aims to break the stereotypical roles for men working in early years.

“I’ve done a lot of work on raising boys’ attainment in the early years and providing male role models that promote other things aside from football which is crucial,” he said.

Society ‘suspicious of men in early years’

“For example, my school has a male in-house storyteller, artist and musician. This gives all children in the early years, but particularly boys, more diverse examples of all the things men and boys can be interested in.”

And Sally Bates, headteacher of Wadsworth Fields Primary in Nottingham, said that it was also important to challenge society’s prejudices.

“The need to attract more men into this critically important phase of education cannot be ignored,” she said. “The problem of society being suspicious of men working in this sector means that recruitment is low and this perception needs to be loudly challenged at every level.”

School leaders at the NAHT annual conference in Liverpool this week are due to vote on a motion calling for the government to work with the sector to identify ways to encourage more male teachers into early years.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “It is important that young children have both male and female role models in their early years, and having a diverse range of people working in childcare has an important part to play in this.

“We have set up a group to look at the number of men working in early years in more depth and consider what more could be done to encourage men to consider this rewarding career. We look forward to the group’s findings and will be considering them carefully to see what steps can be taken to address this issue.”