Infant Schools are currently under intense pressure to deliver hot meals from September despite the lack of appropriate kitchens in many places, and many of their teachers are now also to be used as a source of expertise for the private and voluntary providers of Nursery provision. All this thanks to decisions taken by the Department for Education. Its not difficult, you simply think and check before you impose major changes, and you try to anticipate problems before announcements are made.

The decision over hot food began as a political announcement from Nick Clegg, as part of horse trading over the married persons allowance. Whilst the concept is a great one, this is simply too much too quickly. As previous Governments know only too well, ripping out School Kitchens, whether for lunches or for teaching purposes, can be done relatively quickly. As anyone who has ever organised a new kitchen in their home will know, there are always hidden and unexpected elements, and only a fool would try to impose such significant change over such a short period. This is made much worse where the area intended for the kitchen is currently being used as a library or a staffroom or even a storage area. In addition the number of trained kitchen fitters is finite, as is the capacity of stainless steel manufacturers. Add to this that the work can only be carried out in the Holidays (at best a 9 week period over the year if we assume Christmas was too early). Of course it is easy to be wise after the event, or part way through the event, and to be fair to Nick Clegg, he wanted something to announce at his Party Conference last Autumn.

In the case of the comments by Liz Truss, she wants to harness individual practitioners through the ‘teaching schools’ concept, to spread best practice in the private and voluntary sector, just as they have used this approach within the statutory sector. Last week we had the unhelpful comments from Michael Wilshaw of Ofsted and now a Government Minister has rushed out a reaction, pouring petrol on the few dying flames of his comments. The damage is bound to be just as much a problem as the promise to deliver hot foods for all children in years 1-3.

Early years provision is incredibly important, whether it is provided in the childs home by the carers, through child minders in their homes, in voluntary sector or private sector preschools or nurseries or in the nursery classes of Infant Schools. However each of those forms of provision brings with it different strengths and pressures. It is vital that with the exception of the home provision by the child’s carers which of course is not covered by OFSTED, that OFSTED or other agencies are properly resourced to ensure that best practice is shared between settings and the poor provision that cannot be improved is closed down, enabling better quality provision to take its place. It is also important that these sectors, despite their differences, do not become isolated silos, unable to learn from one another. However using a solution that is not yet proven in one sector to solve perceived problems in other sectors seems a bit like asking a luxury car garage to help a large chain or a mechanic working in a semi residential area to organise their businesses better. Each performs different functions and achieves different outcomes, and will need help and support delivered in different ways.

According to this report Childcare Minister Liz Truss believes a teacher-led self-improving system for the early years would enhance outcomes for disadvantaged children. She wants schools to work with nurseries to help them improve the quality of childcare they provide in a bid to narrow the attainment gap between poorer children and their wealthier peers. She denied that the government wants to see all disadvantaged children placed in schools at an early age.Truss said: “It’s not about starting school at an early age – that’s not what we’re talking about. “It’s about developing this language and social skills so that children can learn at schools. “We want to see teachers and nurseries in the driving seat of improvement. “As with schools, we want strong providers working with weaker providers to improve practice in a school-led system.

Just like with Schools kitchens, change will take time and involve investment, both financial and human and in the process itself. Despite the constant claims regarding the cost of childcare, most voluntary sector preschools and nurseries are grossly under resourced and whilst money cannot buy success, the lack of funding including for the services historically provided by local government before the cuts is a barrier for many of the changes that Liz Truss wants to see made. She also needs to ensure that her model of ‘teaching school’ does not become a one size fits all settings. In other words, must do better!