summarised as most highly qualified, followed by integrated centres, then private day nurseries
and local authority day nurseries together, and finally playgroups, who have the lowest proportion
of qualified staff.
There was a relationship between the centre manager’s qualification level and the quality of the
pre-school environment. The Figure below shows ECERS scores set against qualifications level
with Level 2 being NVQ Level 2 or equivalent and Level 5 being qualified teacher status.
Figure 5.4- ECERS-R and ECERS-E means by manager qualification
□ ECERS-R □ ECERS-E
Quality and Programmes
Centre managers at interview reported widespread use of daily timetables and collegiate
planning but the maintained (‘State’ or LEA) sector was more likely to refer to aspects of the
curriculum when planning activities. There was good use made of the curriculum guidelines at
the time, the most common being the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority’s (/DfEE, 1996)
Desirable Learning Outcomes, but playgroups made less use of this document in their planning
than other types of provision.
Staff working in the maintained rather than the voluntary or private sector were more likely to
have been trained to assess and monitor children’s development. They conducted assessments
more regularly and used a wider repertoire of assessment strategies.
Centres and parents
The maintained sector, especially the LEA settings, reported more meetings for parents, sharing
of assessment information and helping parents in their roles as ‘educators’ of their own children.
Summary of quality profiles
Although the EPPE results present a picture of satisfactory pre-school environments, centres
varied considerably in their ECERS profiles according to type of provision. The traditional
nursery schools and integrated (combined) centres usually had the highest scores, often close to
‘excellent’, followed by nursery classes. Unfortunately many young children are attending
centres where the provision is ‘minimal’ rather than ‘good’. The playgroups and private day
nurseries typically had the lowest scores, with local authority day nurseries somewhere in
between. This study shows clearly that well-resourced pre-school centres with a history of
‘education’ (including substantial numbers of trained teachers, LEA in-service training, OfSTED
‘school’ inspections rather than ‘care’ inspections) were providing the highest quality of care and
education. The centres from the ‘care’ tradition, despite their more favourable staff-child ratios,
were offering a different level of care and education. It is relevant here to mention that care-
oriented provision usually offers the lowest salaries to staff, employs workers with the lowest
level of qualifications, and has limited access to training and higher staff turnover. We found that
provision above the ‘minimal’ level was concentrated in well-resourced centres.
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