CONTRIBUTORS
Early childhood educators deserve our financial and professional support
Comment by NAOMI HOWELLS, Managing Director of Class People.
Whilst the government ploughs funding into subsidising nurseries to get more parents into work, they continue to underfund those that staff these nurseries.
Let’s look at the numbers. The average salary for early years professionals is roughly 36% lower than similar positions in other industries.An annual pay of about £24,900 (or £9.40 per hour) is typical for a nursery practitioner. If the
childcare industry is to fulfil its expansion objectives the Department of Education predicts that it would require an extra sixty thousand workers, based on present trends and anticipated demand. Undertaking this role and pursuing this career path requires competence. Professionals working with children in their formative years ensure their mental and emotional health, pinpoint areas of growth that require attention, and set the stage for future academic and social success. However, many are turned off by the low salary and limited opportunities, which leads to vacancies that undermine education from its very beginnings.
It’s time to demonstrate greater value to those who will affect this country’s future through educating the next generation, even from infancy.
1. Funded Pay Benchmarks. Establish mandatory national pay scales for childcare providers receiving state funding, which are based on both experience and education.
2. Pay Progression Modelled After That of Teachers. Educators are rewarded for their years of service and professional qualifications through predetermined salary ranges. Applying this strategy to the first stages would provide a transparent, upward-trending revenue trajectory, which would attract and retain exceptional individuals. Even ensuring these individuals are paid a “Living Wage” would be a good place to start.
3. Practical Government Support. Raise financing rates to ensure that providers can achieve these pay scales without compromising on quality in other areas.
4. Organised Career Pathways. Offer clear paths for advancement, such as from assistant to senior practitioner to early years teacher, along with rewards for improved skills and opportunities to learn leadership roles.
5. Acknowledgement for Professionalism. Strengthen CPD and public recognition of early childhood education professionals as they deserve for the highly specialised work they do.
Investment is required in early childhood education to the staff, the resources available and the importance of ensuring a high standard of provision is available to all children to alter the country’s trajectory, and creating a promising future of growth and opportunity for the next generation. Education at all ages should always be considered as a long-term investment in the success of our nation. Both current employees and those who will follow them are being short-changed if we settle for anything less.
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www.education-today.co.uk
Beyond compliance: using recruitment to strengthen safeguarding
Comment by
WAYNE CARTMEL, Founder & CEO at MyNewTerm.
Safeguarding sits at the heart of every school’s duty of care. While much of the
focus is rightly placed on culture, training, and policies once staff are in post, the reality is that safeguarding begins earlier at the point of recruitment. Every advert, application, and employment history check plays a vital role in ensuring children are protected. Schools cannot afford to see recruitment as a purely administrative exercise; it is the first and most critical safeguarding step.
Despite clear requirements in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE), many schools continue to rely on outdated, manual recruitment processes. Word documents, paper forms, and long email trails remain common practice. While familiar, these approaches can create risk. Gaps in employment history are more easily missed, records can be misplaced, and processes vary widely across schools in the same trust or local authority.
In multi-academy trusts where each school manages recruitment differently, leaders often lack visibility of whether safer recruitment checks are being applied with the same rigour across the organisation. Fragmented systems are not just inefficient; they can create safeguarding blind spots.
Digitisation changes this picture. A sector-specific Applicant Tracking System (ATS) builds compliance directly into the recruitment workflow. For example: • Full employment histories are captured in line with KCSiE requirements.
• Any unexplained gaps are automatically flagged for review. • Every action is recorded in a secure, auditable trail. • Criminal conviction forms can be managed as automated workflows prior to interview.
• Standardised processes are applied consistently across all schools within a trust.
Rather than relying on manual oversight, leaders can be confident that critical safeguarding steps are not missed. Technology does not replace professional judgement, but it strengthens it and frees staff to focus on the decisions that matter most.
Recruitment is not just a transactional process. The way schools handle applications and manage communications is often the first impression a candidate has of the organisation. Timely communication, transparency about checks, and consistency of practice across schools all build confidence that safeguarding is taken seriously. For MATs, adopting a single digital recruitment framework delivers more than efficiency. It provides assurance that every school is meeting the same high standards and that safeguarding is embedded at every stage of the candidate journey.
Compliance is the minimum standard, not the end goal. True safeguarding in recruitment means going beyond simply meeting statutory requirements. It means designing a process that actively strengthens protection, reduces risk, and demonstrates a school’s values in action.
With digital tools now widely available, there is no reason for safeguarding to be compromised by manual processes. Schools and trusts that invest in a modern, education-specific, digital-first approach are not just reducing administrative burden; they are setting a higher benchmark for safeguarding in education.
October 2025
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