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Lessons learnt: Responses to COVID-19 from the Early Years Sector in Wales from 2020 to 2023

Cathryn Knight Orcid Logo, Jacky Tyrie Orcid Logo, Ioanna Bakopoulou Orcid Logo, Margarida Borras Batalla

Wales Journal of Education, Volume: 27, Issue: 2

Swansea University Author: Jacky Tyrie Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.16922/wje.27.2.4

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand how early childhood education and care (ECEC) practitioners in Wales view the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their sector; how these perceptions have changed over time; and what we can learn from these experiences to support future crisis recovery, and...

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Published in: Wales Journal of Education
ISSN: 2059-3708 2059-3716
Published: University of Wales Press 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69988
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spelling 2025-12-12T13:54:06.0300627 v2 69988 2025-07-17 Lessons learnt: Responses to COVID-19 from the Early Years Sector in Wales from 2020 to 2023 c1a41159a94ed9bf45e035f6a2a2ca79 0000-0002-6419-5391 Jacky Tyrie Jacky Tyrie true false 2025-07-17 SOSS The purpose of this study was to understand how early childhood education and care (ECEC) practitioners in Wales view the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their sector; how these perceptions have changed over time; and what we can learn from these experiences to support future crisis recovery, and effective and context-responsive practice in ECEC settings. A three-phase research process was employed, consisting of two online surveys (November–December 2020, n = 379; February–March 2023 n = 352) and online focus groups (May 2023, n = 12). Overall, practitioners in 2023 perceived the impact of the pandemic as worse than those who completed the survey during the peak of the pandemic in 2020. This was explained by the negative impact on cohesive support services in the aftermath of the pandemic. Over one-third of the participants in both surveys said that their setting had struggled to remain viable, while focus group participants spoke about the ‘forgotten sector’ and felt undervalued in their roles. Practitioners discussed changes that had remained in place that were adapted as a result of COVID-19, which were seen as both opportunities and challenges emerging from the pandemic experience. These mostly centered around adapting the setting to the increased level of need that children in the setting were showing. The paper concludes by providing recommendations or policy and practice and emphasises the need to utilise the COVID-19 pandemic as a learning opportunity for reflection and innovation in ECEC policy and practice both in Wales and globally. Journal Article Wales Journal of Education 27 2 University of Wales Press 2059-3708 2059-3716 COVID-19, early years, early childhood education and care, best practice, Wales 21 11 2025 2025-11-21 10.16922/wje.27.2.4 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University Not Required 2025-12-12T13:54:06.0300627 2025-07-17T10:39:35.5182663 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Education and Childhood Studies Cathryn Knight 0000-0002-7574-3090 1 Jacky Tyrie 0000-0002-6419-5391 2 Ioanna Bakopoulou 0000-0003-3170-1443 3 Margarida Borras Batalla 4 69988__35815__697cb41e0ff74b0589756d1b164887f6.pdf 69988.VOR.pdf 2025-12-12T13:51:27.2640942 Output 411374 application/pdf Version of Record true Released under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 license. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
title Lessons learnt: Responses to COVID-19 from the Early Years Sector in Wales from 2020 to 2023
spellingShingle Lessons learnt: Responses to COVID-19 from the Early Years Sector in Wales from 2020 to 2023
Jacky Tyrie
title_short Lessons learnt: Responses to COVID-19 from the Early Years Sector in Wales from 2020 to 2023
title_full Lessons learnt: Responses to COVID-19 from the Early Years Sector in Wales from 2020 to 2023
title_fullStr Lessons learnt: Responses to COVID-19 from the Early Years Sector in Wales from 2020 to 2023
title_full_unstemmed Lessons learnt: Responses to COVID-19 from the Early Years Sector in Wales from 2020 to 2023
title_sort Lessons learnt: Responses to COVID-19 from the Early Years Sector in Wales from 2020 to 2023
author_id_str_mv c1a41159a94ed9bf45e035f6a2a2ca79
author_id_fullname_str_mv c1a41159a94ed9bf45e035f6a2a2ca79_***_Jacky Tyrie
author Jacky Tyrie
author2 Cathryn Knight
Jacky Tyrie
Ioanna Bakopoulou
Margarida Borras Batalla
format Journal article
container_title Wales Journal of Education
container_volume 27
container_issue 2
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 2059-3708
2059-3716
doi_str_mv 10.16922/wje.27.2.4
publisher University of Wales Press
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Education and Childhood Studies{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Education and Childhood Studies
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description The purpose of this study was to understand how early childhood education and care (ECEC) practitioners in Wales view the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their sector; how these perceptions have changed over time; and what we can learn from these experiences to support future crisis recovery, and effective and context-responsive practice in ECEC settings. A three-phase research process was employed, consisting of two online surveys (November–December 2020, n = 379; February–March 2023 n = 352) and online focus groups (May 2023, n = 12). Overall, practitioners in 2023 perceived the impact of the pandemic as worse than those who completed the survey during the peak of the pandemic in 2020. This was explained by the negative impact on cohesive support services in the aftermath of the pandemic. Over one-third of the participants in both surveys said that their setting had struggled to remain viable, while focus group participants spoke about the ‘forgotten sector’ and felt undervalued in their roles. Practitioners discussed changes that had remained in place that were adapted as a result of COVID-19, which were seen as both opportunities and challenges emerging from the pandemic experience. These mostly centered around adapting the setting to the increased level of need that children in the setting were showing. The paper concludes by providing recommendations or policy and practice and emphasises the need to utilise the COVID-19 pandemic as a learning opportunity for reflection and innovation in ECEC policy and practice both in Wales and globally.
published_date 2025-11-21T05:25:25Z
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score 11.089905

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