Can nursery managers pay their way towards an Outstanding grade?
Recent studies into nursery wages have shown childcare settings that are graded ‘Outstanding’ are paying their staff on average twenty-one percent more than a setting that ‘requires improvement.’ Can this be a vital factor in improving Ofsted grades?
According to the ‘In for a pound’ study conducted by The Family and Childcare trust (FACT), on average, an ‘outstanding’ setting will pay their staff up to £8.37 per hour compared to £6.92 per hour at setting the ‘require improvement’ or are ‘inadequate.’ This stark contrast in wages suggests that practitioner wages can have an impact on the overall Ofsted grade of a setting. Pay can heavily influence a person’s work ethic, and the results from this study suggest a very strong relationship between quality and wages.
The “In for a pound’ study has been observed across all nine regions across England, with London having the biggest difference in pay between ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ childcare settings at £2.58 per hour. This can be costly for settings to financially manage across a number of practitioners, however according to National Day Nurseries Association “The majority of nurseries (82%) plan to increase pay in the next 12 months. Most plan increases of 1-3%.” This rise in pay may, in turn, have a positive impact on the quality of nurseries across England. With higher wages being offered in ‘outstanding’ settings, individuals may become more interested in supporting the setting they are in to reach a higher grade.
Many nurseries would love to pay their staff a higher way but with funding already causing a strain, this is impossible.
There are many factors to consider when Ofsted inspect a childcare setting, with a focus on four main areas; leadership and management, teaching, learning and assessment, personal development, behaviour and welfare and outcomes for children. The Common Inspection Framework states that in order to gain an ‘outstanding’ grade, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment must be ‘outstanding’ within all other areas. In exceptional circumstances an area may be ‘good’, however, it must evidence that it is rapidly improving to meet the same standard as all other areas. So by paying staff higher in one setting than another will this really have an impact on the over grade? Many people could argue that a strong work ethic and happy staff is not enough alone to gain an overall ‘outstanding’ grade as there are also contributing factors.
So do people agree that the difference in pay has an impact on settings achieving outstanding?