conkers

On our way to toddler group this morning we passed under the mature Horse chestnut tree down the lane. Its branches extend out over the road but the trunk itself is in the grounds of a house. The tree is a familiar talking point with the children all year round. We look for the first tight sticky buds in Spring. We have watched the leaves unfurl over the weeks and then marvelled at the flowers as they appear. (If you have never look closely at the Horse chestnut flower you should.) Then we glimpse the first of the husks that will contain conkers, and finally in the Autumn we collect the conkers that litter the driveway of the house. For years now I have walked under the tree with different children as company.

Today I had a conversation with a child very similar in many ways to the conversation I had two years ago. But back then the child was familiar with the tree. She remembered picking conkers with me the previous year. We talked about how I would pick conkers in the Autumn from this tree, and the child would be picking conkers from another tree. This is because she was moving on to nursery so wouldn’t be with me. I was reassuring her that traditions carry on and she would find another Conker tree and collect conkers with Mummy, or even with the children from her new nursery.

Today's conversation was a little different because the child is too young to understand that by the time the conkers start to fall he will be in nursery. And he does not really have the memory of collecting conkers with me from this tree as last year he was tiddly and small. So we picked up a small green husk that had fallen from the tree and gazed at the many husks growing above us and I chatted about conkers, how the leaves were moving in the wind and wondered aloud if there were squirrels in the tree?

Now personally I fully support children going into nursery/pre-school provision. I believe it is right that children can make that progression from a small setting such as mine, with a nurturing environment that gives them the skills they need to make a success of their time at nursery/pre-school. Nursery and pre-schools are a further stepping stone to making that leap into being 'school ready'. Early Years Entitlement/Funded Education/Free Entitlement whatever you want to call it, is there to support children so when they get to school they are indeed 'ready'.

Childminders have been given the impression they have a place in the provision of EYE, an equal place. Indeed it was said that the extended 2 yr old Free Entitlement would fail without Childminders signing up, there just wasn't enough places available to supply the expected demand. The push to ensure there are enough places to provide the extended Free Entitlement for 2 year olds from September 14 has seen many childminders, myself included opting in. Unfortunately things are not as rosy as they should be, and many childminders have discovered that they are being asked to cover the hours that nurseries and pre-schools do not cover.

The problem for childminders is not just confined to the FE for 2 year olds. I had a chat with a fellow childminder a few weeks ago, she had been asked by a parent to provide FE for a little chap she had in her setting & was looking forward to it. We discussed the administrative challenges she was facing, and the fact that funding for the early years entitlement (3& 4 yr old) did not cover her hourly rate, but she was still keen.

The almost invertible has happened, the parent has changed their minds and the child is now going to nursery. The childminder has been asked to pick up & provide an hour or so childcare a day. This happens time & time again. Yes, of course there are childminders out there who have been successful in providing FE and who have provided the Full Entitlement of 15 hours, or the majority of it. There are many childminders I am sure who have a very positive experience of providing FE in conjunction with another setting. But too often Childminders are being seen and used as the inferior provider, only fit to provide breakfast and end of day care, or a taxi service.

I fretted over my decision to provide EYE or not. I worried about being disadvantaged in the marketplace if I didn’t and I worried over the financial implications of a lower hourly rate if I did. I was swayed by the knowledge that I would be supporting families, families that had possibly been with me for some time.  

I think the bottom line is that parents do what they think is right for their children, and what is right for their family situation. I do not know if I will ever be asked to provide FE. I am happy at present to focus on providing the very best childcare I can, for the very youngest children and fully support parents decision to take a place at nursery when the time is right. 

Would I consider providing just 1 or 2 hours of childcare if asked by a parent? No. 

 

I guess I will be having plenty of conker type conversations in the future.

I don't like......'reforms' to childcare by politicians

 

 

So the long awaited announcement on 'reforms' to childcare will be made tomorrow...after being leaked more efficiently than a dropped milk carton on the kitchen floor.

The announcement will I believe to bring to fruition Elizabeth Truss plans that have been hinted at over the past 9 months, to radically alter childcare.

Higher ratio's-

The government wants to relax rules to allow nurseries, pre-schools and childminders to take on more children and be able to exceed the customary ratio's imposed in the EYFS12 (as the ratios have been going back into the mists of time, being the safest most effective number of children for an adult to care for while ensuring the children are supported fully in their learning and development). The suggestion that more children and fewer staff  will bring down the cost of the childcare to parents is ludicrous. Of course it will not work like that, because correct me if I am wrong but the number of children in the nursery will not rise significantly because the EYFS space requirements will still have to be met? or are we just about to make thousands of nursery nurses redundant? unless of course the government see this as a solution to the crisis in the building industry by building nursery extensions? or may be they expect to drop the space requirements of the EYFS and pack more children in? (but children in early years do not sit quietly at tables, they like to run, jump, climb, dance , move, crawl, spin and explore the environment using all their senses). Young children need space, they need to be able to take risks, overcome physical challenges, and they need an adult to ensure their safety while they do it!

Nursery ratio's are already higher than a childminder (depending on age) because the children are (generally) in rooms or groups, there is always another member of staff to cover comfort breaks, and (generally) the children do not go out into the wider community every day. But I find it hard to believe that any parent would want cheaper childcare if it means leaving their toddler in the care of one nursery nurse looking after 7 other toddlers.

At present I can have 3 children under 5 year old here at any one time, and I can in exceptional circumstances increase that number by granting myself a variation. But I'm not superwoman and the quality of the care I provide is more important to me than anything. The thought of routinely having 4 or 5 toddlers fills me with grave concerns for the welfare of these very young children. I don't know about anyone else but the last time I looked I only had two hips & two arms to carry toddlers, and one lap. On a good day with a fair wind I might just be able to provide quality childcare for four young children- if they were not teething, had a good nights sleep and the weather was agreeable.  But above all higher ratios, whether in a nursery or childminders will compromise safety, and they will lead to poorer outcomes for children.

More 'teaching'-

Strange one this. I already care and educate, its called the EYFS.

Nursery: new staff –

Apparently the Government is hoping they will be paid more than existing staff - and they will have to have a C grade in GCSE Maths and English. There as been some suggestion that early years in this country is somehow failing by Elizabeth Truss (currently an Under-Secretary at the Department of Education, although she was not in that post back in March/April 2012 when she began looking for a solution to the childcare problem) because of the calibre of our early years workforce, and Ms Truss has looked to Europe for an answer. I do agree there are some valuable lessons to be learnt from European countries, mainly that children do not start formal learning until they are 6 or 7 years of age! However this fact has historically been ignored by all politicians over here. Although if European children start school later but make better progress I would argue it is the school not the childcare system that is wrong in this country.

Mothers to become childminders-

Government want more Mothers to become Childminders. Well if you have a workforce of mother's at home with their own young children it would indeed make sense to encourage them to find employment that is compatible with being at home. It remains to be seen if all these new childminders will find enough work. I doubt it. I personally do not know many childminders without vacancies, this fact speaks for itself.

Childminder hubs (agencies) -

The 'agency model' was being talked about in the same breath as deregulation for childminders. The guess (because we just don't know any details as yet) was that childminders would join an agency that would match them with parents requiring childcare. Fees might be negotiated by the agency, they would certainly take a fee for the matching and in return monitor the childminder, provide some training and save Ofsted needing to inspect every single childminder- therefore saving Ofsted money. Questions yet unanswered: What would be the point of taking childminders out of the open market? What would be the primary goal of agencies? would it include raising the standard of childminding? or providing cheap childcare for parents? Which childminders would be the target subject of the agency- the Satisfactory childminders to raise standards? or the Outstanding childminders?  What would happen to childminders who do not want to join an agency? Would those childminders still have access to training? What benefits would there be to joining an agency, and what disadvantages would there be? And would childminders who did not join an agency still have Ofsted inspections? Would parents use an agency if they have to pay a fee on top of the childminders terms and conditions? Would childminders (who are self-employed) be free to continue to set their own terms?

There are many other questions. My first one is I wonder if Ms Truss really understands childminding in this country and does she value childminding as it stands?

I am very uncertain about the future of childminding, and about my future as a childminder. Our hope lies within the early years sector. The uproar already expressed even before the announcement has been made will I hope make the government pause for thought. And it will have to pass through parliament.

Out of all of this muddle one thing is becoming clear. The guiding principle that The Child should remain at the centre of everything we do, and that we should focus on ensuring positive outcomes for All Children, has slipped from the governments agenda. It is now more about convincing parents that cheaper childcare will help them into work, will keep them in work, and is the best thing since sliced bread.