Giving 40 per cent of all two-year-olds 15 hours of free nursery education and care by 2014 is a laudable aim which, if successful, could prove a landmark achievement in welfare and early intervention.
While the sector wholeheartedly supports the free entitlement programme in principle, it has yet to be widely convinced of its viability. The phased approach to delivery (see timeline) has not so far dispelled anxieties. In many areas Government funding has fallen short of the actual cost of offering the sessions. Other expensive implications within the offer, such as staffing levels, training and capital investment, are well documented.
The Government hopes the early years sector will take comfort from the fact that from April 2013 funding for the scheme will be allocated to local authorities through the Dedicated Schools Grant, which is ring-fenced for spending on education, unlike the Early Intervention Grant which funds children's centres and other childcare services. It promises that the extra amount invested in early education will have risen by more than £1 billion a year by 2014.
The pilot schemes that have run this year in 15 local authorities provide a good barometer of where the sector currently stands on its commitment to the scheme.
According to a survey the National Day Nurseries Association conducted last spring, polling those who had participated, 63 per cent of respondents said they would like to continue to be involved in the free entitlement for two-year-olds - but with the caveat that more support would be needed.
At that time, around half of nurseries reported that they had not yet heard from their local authority about plans for two-year-old places in September. Now that autumn is upon us, there is a mixed picture in terms of local authority pro-activity.
Nurseries are being urged by the NDNA to take matters into their own hands to find out what help they can expect when it comes to support from their local authority with operations, business planning and training, to deliver best practice for two-year-olds.
The NDNA underlines that there is an urgent need for dialogue. Purnima Tanuku, chief executive, says, 'There should be ongoing communication between nurseries and local authorities. Nurseries are a vital part of the picture to ensure we have enough places for two-year-olds, and local authorities should be adopting a flexible approach to delivery with the sector as partners. The greater the engagement of a wide range of providers, the greater flexibility of the offer, and this will support as many parents as possible to take up their child's entitlement.'
ROOM FOR TWOS
A collaborative approach to meeting local families' needs has enabled Acorn Childcare and Milton Keynes Council to provide a targeted offer for two-year-olds. Its nursery in the grounds of New Bradwell School in Milton Keynes is now using a room in the neighbouring Windmill Children's Centre to provide the two-year-old entitlement.
Zoe Raven, managing director of Acorn, says, 'Due to the high demand for twos places in the area, the children's centre was keen for us to provide places. However, there were logistical problems associated with this for us, as we have to prioritise full daycare places for our under-threes.'
Subsequent discussions with the children's centre resulted in the decision to free up one of its rooms in the afternoon, with Acorn registered to provide the staff and care. In April it launched an offer for eight children and this has now risen to 12.
Ms Raven says, 'Essentially, the school owns the building, which the children's centre occupies and it is the landlord. When we worked out the finances, we realised we would need to pay a minimal amount on rent. On this basis we came to an agreement with the school.'
The children's centre selects the children who are entitled to the offer. Ms Raven reports that one of the challenges has been finding staff prepared to meet their needs, particularly when there are additional needs such as language delay involved. Inevitably 90 per cent of her costs go on employing her current three staff.
She says, 'We hadn't anticipated the number of meetings that staff would be involved in within the environment of the centre and have had to factor this into their hours. We have also spent time on a review to ensure we meet all families' needs.'
Tracy Seymour, children's centre co-ordinator, says, 'It's been a wonderful experience to have a vision and work in partnership to bring that to life.
'Centre and daycare staff have worked flexibly with parents to meet both children's and families' needs. Acorn recently reviewed hours to support children's and families' routines around school pick-up times. The partnership working has also meant that family support workers have worked alongside daycare providers, supporting their knowledge of the care and guidance needed by the children accessing their service.'
Ms Seymour is delighted to have the right quality of staff in place. 'We have been able to look at the level of experience needed for these children and worked in partnership to ensure that experienced quality practitioners are in the room. Acorn has recently employed a member of staff previously engaged as a parent volunteer, working in the children's centre over a period of two years, gaining skills and confidence and working towards a Level 2 qualification. This has meant that with the support of Acorn we have been able to help someone into paid employment and "grown our own" within the community.'
Looking ahead, the children's centre would like to develop partnership working to have spaces available for children and families within its catchment to access two-year funding.
'We also hope to build on, and develop, integrated working practices to ensure families and children have continuity across all the early years sites,' says Ms Seymour.
WHERE THE MONEY GOES
As the offer gathers momentum in the run-up to the ambitious goal of having provision for 40 per cent of two-year-olds by 2014, the factor of increased flexibility in how parents can use their hours will be key. The sector hopes that local authorities will make the offer flexible across their areas rather than across individual providers. As the programme progresses, increasing numbers of nurseries will have to consider how the offer will work best for them and discuss this with their local authority.
Zoe Raven says, 'There is an inherent problem for day nurseries in that most do not want to be offering sessional care. But if a children's centre is linked with a nursery, a partnership can work well. It is also encouraging for nurseries that sessional care can be a stepping stone for parents, leading to training and potential employment.'
She adds, 'I am a little sceptical about the funding given to the consultancy Mott MacDonald to provide optional support to local authorities and providers. What's needed is a decent hourly rate - that is where the money should be going. We don't need advice on how to run a session or a business.'
At the NDNA Purnima Tanuku agrees that the hourly rates for funding must cover costs. She says, 'To secure the involvement and long-term sustainability of the free nursery education offer, local authorities must take the right decisions at a strategic level to ensure direct ring-fenced education funding to early years so that providers are funded at a viable level.'
CASE STUDY: YOUNG EXPLORERS CHILDCARE - SUPPORT FROM the COUNCIL
Based in Stoke-on-Trent, the large nursery Young Explorers has recently equipped an existing room specifically for two-year-olds at a cost of around £3,000. Owner Sue Smith is very positive about the programme.
'We participated in the pilot, starting with one child in December and increasing to ten children by July,' she says. 'We have just had an additional four children join us.
'The nursery is in an area of deprivation and is very sessional-based. We have lots of gaps and we have filled these in with the offer. We are also used to caring for children with additional needs.
'Equipping our new room has not been a major outlay. As September is a quiet month for us when a lot of children leave to go to school, we are utilising excess staff. Our plan is to have 12 children in the morning and 12 in the afternoon. We feel it is important to look at the children's needs and employ well-qualified staff. At the moment we have two Level 3 staff working in the room. In the longer term, when other staff get busy again, we will bring in an apprentice as the third person.'
Ms Smith says that the nursery has just run a local advertising campaign for the places, which included a leaflet drop in schools and shops.
'Parents who are interested come to us for an application form which then goes off to Stoke Council. The council then notifies them of their nursery options. In some cases we have been able to help parents fill out their forms.
'Some applications which were approved in July have been honoured by the council for a September place, which is helpful as this is a better time for children to start.'
She adds, 'I know there has been a lot of discussion around the viability of the offer, but if a nursery can work it right and ensure quality staff, it is a very good thing.'
CASE STUDY: CUDDLES DAY NURSERY - 'UNDERFUNDED'
By Vesela Gladicheva
Cuddles Day Nursery, rated outstanding by Ofsted, is a provider in Poole, Dorset, which offers full daycare across two sites. Over the course of the last academic year, the nursery took part in the pilot by the borough of Poole.
It offered ten places for children whose families were specifically selected for the pilot scheme. The nursery testifies to the fact that the pilot, or the 'Flying Start' project, helped improve the parents' confidence and their knowledge of the basic steps of their children's development by encouraging them to spend more play time together.
The project included visits by family outreach workers to provide individual support and learning packs to parents in their homes. The Flying Start packs, also available at the nursery, contained musical instruments, puzzles and other material to share.
As part of the pilot, the nursery organised three coffee mornings or workshops, where parents learned about brain development, child development and schemas, and discussed activities in the packs.
Cuddles Day Nursery also started a 'wow' book, so the parents could write comments about what they had enjoyed about the activities.
The nursery, which cares for around 40 children in total, opened up the project to all the parents, not just those on the two-year-old pilot.
Frances Morgan, area manager of Cuddles Day Nursery, says the pilot helped the nursery with parent partnership in particular. 'It's been a good point of discussion for the staff and parents,' she says. 'It also supported the parents in how to link up with their children and it gave them more ideas and knowledge. It promoted the parents' confidence, and in turn, that helped the children's relationship with the parents.'
Although the nursery has decided to support the scheme from 2013, it says that it is underfunded and that it has been losing money on the children accepted for the two-year-old pilot. Cuddles hopes that parents will require extra sessions, as well as their free hours.
SCHEME TIMELINE
2011 LAs offer the 15-hour entitlement to 15 per cent of the most disadvantaged two-year-olds
2012 £4m Government-funded pilot involving 15 local authorities to test methods of providing places to most disadvantaged two-year-olds
2013 15-hour entitlement offered to 20 per cent of two-year-olds - around 130,000 children - based on eligibility for free school meals. Funding of £223m allocated to support this phased delivery between 2012 and 2013
2014 - 2015 Funded places for up to 40 per cent of all two-year-olds - around 260,000 children - to be made available
SUPPORT FROM AY20 - WHAT TO EXPECT
Achieving Two Year Olds (A2YO) is a national support contract funded by the DfE spanning 2012 to 2015. Its aim is to provide an optional offer of support to local authorities and early years providers for the roll-out of places for the least advantaged two-year-olds.
A2YO is delivered by the partnership of Mott MacDonald and Hempsall's and will offer support across all 152 local authorities in England.
Support will be against three main objectives:
- developing capacity to meet this new entitlement
- improving the quality of provision so it best meets the needs of two-year-olds
- supporting the stimulation of parental demand for free early education places.
The project is structured around working with local authorities and providers. It has a 'core offer' and from October 2012, it will also be targeting support to where it is most needed through a 'commissioned offer'.
THE CORE OFFER
The project is co-ordinated by a central project management office (PMO) and the Mott MacDonald management team. Each local authority has access to a nominated regional lead with whom it will have a primary relationship, as well as to other specialists.
A local authority self-evaluation form (SEF) will be revisited throughout the project. Its purpose is to measure the level of preparedness towards the 2013 (20 per cent) and 2014 (40 per cent) milestones, and to support project planning. Additionally, it will be used by A2YO for identifying support needs and informing the commissioned offer.
Each council has access to regional and sub-regional network meetings throughout the project to enable peer support, information exchange, training and problem-solving approaches between local authorities locally, regionally and nationally. There will be opportunities for providers to get involved too, and the A2YO team is offering input and information for provider networks.
A2YO has begun discussions with key early years and childcare membership organisations, and it will also be placing information, tools and resources on the DfE strategic partnership website (www.foundationyears.org.uk) to share information more widely for providers and professionals.
In addition to the core offer, the project has the capacity and capability to deliver additional support, training and project activities for providers and local authorities through a formal commissioning process.
Commissioning will start after the receipt and analysis of the first SEF returns this month. It is expected that such support will be commissioned with a variety of voluntary and community organisations, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
MAKING CONTACT
A2YO encourages providers to contact their local authority for details about how they are working with A2YOs. Other enquiries are directed to the project management office achieving2yo@mottmac.com (tel. 01223 463792).
