www.thebabyroom.blog

We are delighted to announce the publication of our final report, Achieving high-quality provision in English baby rooms: Looking ahead to the future. This report brings together key findings from across the global evidence review, baby room conferences, and vision-building workshops to identify future directions for the baby room in England. In this blog post, we zoom out to explore some of the questions raised in the final report: What is the purpose of the baby room? How does purpose connect to a shared vision of quality? And what needs to happen next?

What is the purpose of the baby room? 

Purpose is distinct from vision. Purpose tells us who the baby room is for, what the baby room does, and how it does it. 

Ideas about the purpose of the baby room surfaced throughout the project, including: 

• Support babies’ wellbeing through a focus on attunement and relational connection
• Championing babies’ learning and development
• Supporting families to go back to work

These ideas were often presented as fragmented and in competition with each other, suggesting that the sector lacks a united purpose driving their practice.

New Zealand offers an excellent example of having and articulating a clear purpose for the baby room. Their baby provision is grounded in the key principles of empowerment, holistic development, family and community, and relationships. Importantly, this purpose for baby provision is outlined in their curriculum, Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 2017). 

While England has yet to define a clear purpose for the baby room, the sector was very clear on their vision for the baby room. Vision paints a picture of what high-quality practice looks and feels like in day to day contexts. The following section explores more of this vision for baby rooms.

How does purpose connect to a shared vision of quality?

Across the project, visions of high-quality provision were grounded in relational practice, attunement, and attachment, and were often associated with a calm, nurturing and welcoming atmosphere. This vision focused on: 

• Calm, nurturing and emotionally secure environments; 
• Strong, consistent relationships between babies and educators; 
• Attuned, responsive interactions that follow babies’ cues; 
• Thoughtful routines that support both individual needs and group dynamics; 
• Close, trusting relationships with families.

To achieve this, elements of structural quality such as qualifications, ratio, and group size were shown to be essential across the research. This linked with other structural quality factors such as the location and organisation of the environment and having adequate time for professional learning, planning, and reflection. These structural quality elements enabled the strong relationships and high-quality interactions described above:

• Baby-specific qualifications prepared educators to work with 0-2 year olds and their families; 
• Small group sizes and low ratios created calm environments for attuned connection; 
• The location and organization of the environment had the power to facilitate exploration;
• Time for CPD, planning, and reflection meant the workforce could engage intentionally with babies to create strong relationships and facilitate good quality interactions.

A vital part of the vision was consistent and significant investment in the baby room workforce, since the knowledge and skills of educators is the foundation of babies’ experiences of provision. Baby room educators are engaging in highly emotional work, partnered with the need for expert knowledge on learning and development for under twos. The research highlights the urgent need for baby room relevant qualifications and CPD, alongside high-impact professional learning such as coaching in the baby room. 

What needs to happen next?

While vision describes what good practice looks like, purpose sets a clear, shared understanding of what the baby room delivers and why. A clear statement of purpose from the Department for Education, embedded in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), would:

• Create a clear sense of direction for baby room provision;
• Enable policy to seamlessly align with ECEC and across other parts of the sector working with babies such as health, family hubs, social care, and parental support services;
• Direct structural quality decisions around group size and the baby room workforce
• Ultimately shape the vision of what high-quality practice looks like in the baby room.

When baby room provision has a clear purpose, we can work towards this purpose in everything we do. While we have several recommendations throughout the final report for government, our main ask is: 

For the Department for Education to create a clear statement of purpose for baby room provision, embedded in the Early Years Foundation Stage, to drive quality provision for babies. 

If you agree that this is an essential next step, you can support our call to action by making some noise. We would appreciate if you: 

• Share the report in your networks, for example with colleagues, leaders, training providers, and sector bodies;
• Talk about the need for a clear purpose for baby rooms in your circles, such as in team meetings or professional discussions;
• Raise the need for a clear purpose for baby rooms in conversations with influential stakeholders, including your local authority, sector bodies, and policymakers.

To learn more, have a read of our final report, linked here: https://thebabyroom.blog/final-report/

References

Ministry of Education, Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga. (2017). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Ministry of Education, Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga.