|
Scottish Pre-school Play Association (SPPA), a registered charity, is
Scotland’s largest voluntary sector provider of direct support
services to community led childcare organisations. It delivers essential
support and guidance services to providers of pre-school education and
childcare services, including all-day care groups, playgroups, parent
and toddler groups and under-fives groups. It has a forty year track
record of working with children and families, encompassing many of the
most disadvantaged groups in the country, including families on low
income, ethnic minority families, lone parent families and families
affected by social or rural isolation. It works closely with parents,
early years providers, the Scottish Executive, regulators, local authorities
and Childcare Partnerships, as well as training providers and other
umbrella organisations to support early education and childcare settings.
It represents the interests of voluntary sector community based settings,
provides input to national and local policy consultations and working
groups. Scottish Pre-school Play Association welcomes the opportunity
to provide evidence to the Education Committee and offers the following
submission:
1 The Impact
of the Scottish Executive’s Childcare Strategy on the Voluntary
Sector
The Executive’s commitment to provide universal free pre-school
education to all three to five year olds has been a substantial achievement
and to a large extent has been fulfilled. SPPA has been instrumental
in helping to achieve provision by supporting groups to enter into partnership
with local authorities. In the main there have been many excellent partnerships
formed and SPPA and member groups have risen to the challenge of delivering
quality pre-school experiences and have become an integral component
of an authority’s ability to deliver the Executive’s policy.
However, although there are areas which have a higher number of voluntary
sector partner providers than local authority nurseries, there are others
where the delivery of pre-school education has been contained within
the statutory, and to some extent the private sector. The voluntary
sector provides ten percent of pre-school education provision for three
and four year olds1. Some local authorities engaged briefly with SPPA
member groups until they were able to deliver the service themselves.
The majority have therefore absorbed and centralised services, especially
for four year olds, by incorporating them into their own infrastructure
and by opening up new or extending existing nursery provision. Although
substantial funds have been injected into the voluntary sector this
covers thirty three weeks of two and a half hours per day five days
per week. Most voluntary sector groups operate for at least thirty eight
weeks a year and staff are on the premises more than two and a half
hours per day as they have to prepare, plan, and carry out child assessments.
The dilemma for the groups has been how they fund the missing five weeks.
If a group charges fees they face the possibility of losing business
to the neighbouring local authority nursery where this unfunded period
can be funded from a council budget.
As a consequence:
• A number of voluntary sector pre-school
playgroup providers have closed down or opted out of the regulatory
framework, decreasing the number of pre-school places available in the
sector from 45,883 in 1997 to 20,061 in 20031, giving parents less choice
about the type and frequency of provision.
• Sustainability for some voluntary sector groups that continue
to operate is problematic; increasing bureaucracy and lack of security
of partnership funding is impeding voluntary sector providers’
capacity to plan effectively.
• There is a trend towards more formal, statutory centre-based
provision.
2 Service
Developments
The Executive’s Childcare Strategy and its associated funding
initiatives has promoted and funded the development of a range of new
services for parents; for example out of school clubs, play schemes,
breakfast clubs, wrap around services, day care, increased special needs
provision in all categories, respite services and crèches. There
are also a number of initiatives being provided in partnership with
local authorities which promote parental involvement and build their
skills. SPPA has welcomed the development of new provision and been
involved in new local childcare services through SPPA members or through
participation in Childcare Partnerships. This range of service has provided
more flexibility of childcare provision for parents. The range that
is offered in a local authority area varies according to investment
from the childcare partnerships, new businesses and services planning
as a direct result of childcare audits. There will still be gaps particularly
for a family that has unusual work hours and also for whom the cost
of childcare is still a barrier. SPPA is aware that respite care for
children with additional support needs, is a much needed developing
service that requires substantial investment.
3 Parenting
and Community Involvement
SPPA has a long history of engaging parents in the care, learning and
development of children. SPPA’s view is that parents have a vital
role to play in their child’s early education, enabling children
to become ambitious, confident and successful individuals, with a disposition
to learn and to be able to realise their potential. SPPA is concerned
that the opportunities for parental collaboration and participation
in early years services are being eroded and that perceptions and expectations
of what parental involvement means, may limit the potential contributions
that parents can make. SPPA groups give parents a significant role in
deciding and providing the service they want for their children, as
they are owned and managed by the parents of the children who attend
the group. This involvement makes them different from local authority
provision. Through voluntary management committees, in accordance with
their constitution, parents; manage the provision, employ and manage
staff, comply with legislation and regulatory frameworks, develop business
planning, ensure quality in service provision and implement local and
national guidelines to support children’s care, learning and development.
This type of involvement engenders a whole range of skill development
opportunities which parents take to other spheres of interest and work
environments to the benefit of the community.
While childcare services should be led
by professional and qualified staff, parents – as the prime educators
of their children - have also benefited from participating in the setting;
encouraging and interacting with children and other adults, sharing
information and learning more about their child and child development.
This direct involvement with their child’s learning and development
outside the home environment has motivated many parents to greater involvement,
not only as their child moves through the educational system, but also
in the wider community. Many women use their total experience gained
in a group as a platform to return to work or study/training and this
should not be lost.
In many groups SPPA is working with parents
in their voluntary role of managers of the group and also through training;
there are in addition groups where SPPA is working with parent and child
together. SPPA has projects in parent and toddler groups where parents
stay with their under-threes and share play activity workshops with
the children. These workshops stimulate the children to try new activities
and inspire their parents with their level of skill. These workshops
are evaluated and evidence is collected that shows clearly how adult
/child relationships are being reinforced and how parents are actively
making time to play with their children and take an informed interest
specifically in healthy eating and exercise. SPPA’s view is that
parents benefit from developing an understanding of their child’s
development and of how they can support the child as s/he develops and
passes through different stages. These projects have mainly been funded
through Sure Start which is a positive example of joined up working
for improving children’s health, well-being, learning and care
needs while supporting parents in their own personal, social and learning
needs/development. SPPA endorses this model which works effectively
in demonstrating that the family is fundamental to a child’s development.
The better equipped the parent is, the greater the benefits to a child’s
all round development. The closure of voluntary managed groups has meant
that:
• Volunteering and parental involvement
has suffered.
• Community infrastructures have been eroded and community development
opportunities weakened, particularly for women, many of whom used community
pre-school groups as a springboard; to community involvement, to return
to formal study, to seek employment and return to work.
• The centralisation and formalisation of services has the potential
to diminish these types of opportunities, which inevitably will have
consequences, long term, for parental involvement and active community
participation and citizenship.
4 Flexibility
of Childcare Provision
Flexibility, affordability and accessibility are words used to describe
some of the key commitments of pre-school education and childcare provision,
yet currently there is little flexibility in terms of hours and attendance,
including coverage for working hours and a working year, if parents
want it. Developments in wrap around care and the growth in private
sector providers are addressing some of this, but still many parents
have to use a combination of formal and informal arrangements for their
children. Consequently a very young child can be exposed to several
transitions from one provider to another which has implications for
achieving continuity in their care, learning and development. The cost
of pre-school education and childcare that meets the needs of parents
and young children is variable. The variability and the ability of parents
to pay, particularly low income families, limit parents’ choice
and restrict accessibility to the service that best meets their needs.
The additional cost for children and families is exacerbated in rural
areas.
5 The Regulatory
Framework, Local Authority and the Choice of Provision
With the introduction of a standardised regulatory framework for childcare
there are greater expectations. The work attached to being a partnership
provider of early education has been developed by local authorities
and is quite substantial. It has therefore been a considerable burden
for voluntary led groups. A number now engage administrators to facilitate
this responsibility at a cost. SPPA endorses the improvement of the
quality of the provision and the introduction of a qualification framework
for staff. The Training Challenge Fund has provided many voluntary sector
staff with the opportunity to achieve a qualification with the majority
on target to meet the requirements of the Scottish Social Services Council.
Regulation has also meant that groups have had to develop a considerable
number of policies and procedures. SPPA has developed a range of policies
that has helped to meet the requirements of the Care Commission. Although
the increase in work has proved a deterrent to becoming a volunteer,
many parents are still prepared to take on such a role. In seventeen
out of the thirty two local authority areas, SPPA has been funded to
provide direct support to groups, and assist them to be sustainable
and to develop thorough business planning.
SPPA recognises that there are many local
authorities which provide excellent partnership working between all
sectors. However, there is concern that partnership with some local
authorities and the role of the Care Commission can be viewed by groups
as two forms of inspection. The recent development of the memorandum
of understandings between individual local authorities and the Care
Commission could avoid the perception of a second layer of inspection.
Choice of provision is the clear aim of
the Executive, yet sometimes there has been confusion regarding parents
being allocated places in the centre of their choice. SPPA can provide
evidence of parents who have expressed a preference for the local voluntary
sector provider (for example a morning playgroup place) and then, having
requested this, have been offered a local authority nursery place in
the afternoon instead. There is also some evidence of pressure on parents
to take up places when their child is three, in case they will not have
the choice of morning/afternoon places at age four.
6 The Child’s
Needs
SPPA argues strongly that pre-school education and childcare services
must be predicated on what is in the best interests of an individual
child’s care, learning and development and not be driven primarily
by economic objectives and increasing the number of women in the labour
market. Policy initiatives focus on the needs of working families for
child care and education services. SPPA fully endorses these policies.
It expects also that the preference of those parents who wish to stay
at home with their young child in order to participate more actively
in their care learning and development, (rather than stay in or enter
the workforce), is respected and is not overlooked. The UK Government’s
Childcare Strategy, Choice for parents; the best start for children
refers to an eventual increase of free pre-school education to twenty
hours. SPPA welcomes the increase in hours but is concerned that the
nature of provision must be of high quality. There is concern that providing
longer formal pre-school education may be detrimental to a child’s
all round welfare. The quantitative concept of learning that is the
longer and younger a child is exposed to it, the better will be the
outcome, is a fallacy, if it fails to take into account the quality
of the care and learning provision. “The evidence for the early
stages of a child’s life suggests that consistent one to one care
is very important, and that long hours of group childcare for very young
children can have mixed impacts on a child’s development, depending
on the quality of the care”2. Market and economic forces should
not solely dictate the expansion of services. A child’s individual
care, learning and development needs have to be at the centre of service
provision.
In early years work it is a widely and
strongly held belief that a child’s care, learning and development
are interdependent, yet the divide between early education and childcare
persists. There are providers that come under education; for example,
nursery classes in schools (these also are inspected by the Care Commission
and HMIE) and nursery schools, and other providers in the voluntary
and private sector, that are under the auspices of the Care Commission,
and others which straddle both and come within the remit of the Care
Commission and HMIE. For some providers there is an arbitrary distinction
made between offering pre-school education for part of the day and care
services at other times, for example, wrap around services, a child
attending nursery in the morning and playgroup/child minder in the afternoon.
Early education and childcare policy crosses many institutional boundaries,
at both national and local levels. The implementation of the policy
continues to appear disjointed. The sector remains fragmented and lacks
a coherent operational framework. SPPA welcomes recent endeavours by
the Executive to address this. It particularly welcomes the work of
Sure Start Partnership Initiatives and new community school initiatives.
In the latter case however, SPPA is not aware of voluntary sector involvement,
nor of the initiative having a catalytic effect on more joined up working
to provide early years/family services. The draft Integrated Strategy
for the Early Years, in the earlier consultation stage, proposed greater
integration based on the ‘family centre’ model of provision.
In the absence of the published strategy it is not evident yet how this
model fits in with the UK Government’s Childcare Strategy and
the development of neighbourhood nurseries or children’s centres.
SPPA is keen to know what the correlation will be between the UK Government’s
Childcare Strategy and the Scottish Executive Strategy and what benefits
there will be. The Scottish Childcare Strategy (1998) led to an expectation,
not yet fully realised, that services would be integrated and provided
in local neighbourhoods and communities. SPPA welcomes the UK Government’s
Childcare Strategy with its ten year aim to establish three and a half
thousand children’s centres in England offering an integrated
approach, and would like to know if the Executive has similar plans
as part of the Integrated Strategy for the Early Years.
7 Workforce
Issues
SPPA is noting an increased willingness across the sector to work innovatively
and creatively in partnership to provide flexible, adaptable services
that promote and provide for young children’s care, learning and
development needs, particularly in disadvantaged communities. Yet, there
are still major challenges facing the sector. Professional status should
be enhanced. There are issues regarding staff recruitment and retention
due to increased competition from other providers. There are low pay
and poor terms and conditions in all sectors but especially in the voluntary
sector. Professional tensions among different parts of the workforce
arise from professional, philosophical and cultural differences in approaches,
different values and objectives, different working practices and patterns,
as well as differing perceptions of status, roles and responsibilities,
both within and between the education and childcare and social welfare
split.
• All these hinder the development
of broader perspectives for collaborative working, interagency training
and shared understandings. They limit the ability of the sector to offer
flexibility of hours and attendance, if parents want it. They contribute
to the disjointed approach to children’s care, learning and development.
8 Training
and Qualifications
Huge improvements have been made in training and qualifications for
staff working in services that fall within the remit of the Care Commission,
yet workforce issues between early years education and care service
providers remain unresolved, particularly in relation to teacher and
non-teacher status. The work of the Scottish Social Services Council,
including the current review of the early years workforce, and the Scottish
Qualification Credit Framework bodes well for the future. The registration
of the early years workforce with the requirement for continual professional
development, contributes to raising the profile and professionalism
of the workforce. Perhaps, the emerging discourse in Scotland on the
concept of pedagogy will broaden perspectives and challenge the education
and childcare split in training the early years’ workforce. There
must be a more holistic approach to both.
• Working with pre-school children
is a highly complex and skilled task. There are many highly trained
and competent individuals working with pre-school children. They should
have enhanced professional status.
9 Curriculum
Based on good practice, SPPA has always placed the individual child’s
need at the centre of any curriculum. Groups work with curriculum information
and guidelines from the Scottish Executive Curriculum Framework, Child
at the Centre and the Care Standards. SPPA requires reassurance that
an individual child’s needs are the only starting point for curriculum.
10 Conclusions
The Executive should continue to invest in the childcare sector, ensuring
that affordable places are available for all parents including working
parents and disadvantaged families, whilst supporting “parents’
desire to spend more time with their families”2 . Steps need to
be taken to ensure that voluntary sector education and childcare is
on an equal footing with local authority provision. Further investment
should be in place in partnership funding for pre-school places that
compensates for the service actually being provided over thirty eight
weeks not thirty three. This should take into consideration enhanced
salaries for qualified staff. Recognition should be given to the fact
that the voluntary childcare sector is well supported by SPPA and other
umbrella organisations. Competent levels of core funding for proactive
support services delivered by umbrella bodies should be stabilised,
developed and maintained as part of the continuing Childcare Strategy,
building on the established philosophy of partnership and good practice.
¹ A New Deal for Children: Cohen,
Moss, Petrie and Wallace 2004
2 Choice for parents, the best start for children: a ten year strategy
for childcare 2004
Gwen Garner
Practice Development Officer
Scottish Pre-school Play Association
45 Finnieston Street
Glasgow
G3 8JU
|
