Executive Summary - Sustaining the Ambition: The contribution of GTCS-registered teachers as part of the Early Learning and Childcare Workforce in Scotland

An independent study undertaken by the Child's Curriculum Group and funded by the Educational Institute of Scotland. This report is about young children and the hopes and ambitions Scotland has for them. Scottish Government policy aspires to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up. Part of this ambition is to tackle child poverty in Scotland and narrow the gap that disadvantage brings to educational outcomes. At the same time as increasing the free entitlement to early learning and childcare (ELC) with the aim of this rising to 1,140 hours per year by 2020, there has been, over the last 10 years in Scotland, a 29% reduction in the numbers of GTCS-registered teachers employed in such services, but only a 4% drop in child numbers, which gives a ratio of 1 teacher to 84 children at this important stage. The numbers of GTCS-registered teachers in pre-school services face further reductions: if Scotland is to achieve its aspiration of changing child outcomes, no further attrition in teacher employment can be tolerated and serious consideration needs to be given to the future composition of the ELC workforce: a task that is underway following the Scottish Government’s Response to the Independent Review of the Workforce (Siraj & Kingston, 2015). The study and this report seek to provide an evidence base on the role of GTCS-registered teachers as part of the Early Learning and Childcare workforce in Scotland. While the evidence places a premium upon maintaining a GTCS-registered teaching workforce and the part they will play in sustaining policy ambitions for early childhood, the Child’s Curriculum Group respects and values the essential contributions of all practitioners in the ELC workforce.