CASE STUDY
The Government introduced a new policy in September 2014 that meant nursery staff could only qualify as Level 3 Early Years Educators if they had GCSEs in both English and maths at grade C or above. The policy meant alternative qualifications in literacy and numeracy, such as Functional Skills, no longer counted. The changes meant nurseries were left chronically short-staffed –at a time when demand was rising.
PLMR was enlisted in March 2016 by awarding body CACHE to campaign for the policy to be scrapped. Our strategy was to:
PLMR used social media campaigning to build maximum awareness, creating a bedrock of support, enhanced by our public relations and lobbying activity.
We created a name and logo for the campaign –#SaveOurEarlyYears–and a bespoke website. Its aim was to explain a complex issue in simple, accessible terms, with a strong call to action. The social media and digital elements of the campaign were:
In March 2017, after a year of our campaigning, and two-and-a-half years after the policy was introduced, Childcare Minister, Caroline Dinenage’s officials informed us that the GCSE-only policy would be scrapped and Functional Skills would be reinstated from 1stApril.
As one nursery manager told us: “Without your drive we would still be in this boat. We are elated, one member of staff cried because it means so much to her. So THANK YOU.”
PLMR’s crisis communications experience is second to none, and includes pre-emptive and reactive work across traditional and social media channels. We work with a range of organisations to offer critical communication support when they are faced with difficult and challenging scenarios.
