The Government should recognise the invaluable work of pre-schools, especially in the most disadvantaged areas, where they support families and parents while providing early years education, says a new report from the Pre-school Learning Alliance. But it warns that ministers should be realistic about what they can expect such small organisations to achieve under the welfare-to-work programme.
The Impact of Pre-Schools in the Community, published this week, is a follow-up study to research commissioned by the PLA in 1999 on the extent to which pre-schools contribute to the strengthening of local communities in disadvantaged areas.
It revisits seven settings in areas of social and economic disadvantage in England which featured in the original study, The Contribution of Pre-Schools to the Community, and looks at the impact of policy developments and social changes on their funding and role in the intervening years.
'As a result of national developments and initiatives, the pre-schools have become more professional and several have a higher institutional status,' says the report. 'However, all the staff interviewed for the study commented on the vast increase in paperwork that early years developments have generated and the amount of time that these take up.
'Given that the expertise of the pre-school managers and workers is in helping children's development and supporting families, it appears wasteful that so much of their energies are directed towards bureaucracy and form filling. As the think-tank Demos noted: "People-based solutions rather than paper-based ones are the way to tackle social exclusion".'
'The paperwork has grown at an immense rate,' says Joan Dixon of the Vassall Road Pre-school in Brixton, London. 'Some of it is helpful. We are more thorough in our observations and record-keeping, so we are giving a lot more information to parents and passing on much more information to schools.'
The report notes that while Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships have been supportive and helpful, 'connections with Sure Start seem to vary from area to area. Some of the smaller pre-schools were not receiving any help from the scheme. This raises the question of whether Sure Start can be further expanded to embrace all pre-school services that are performing a valuable role for children and families.'
Benefits to parents
The report confirms the findings of the first research that pre-schools deliver a range of personal, social, educational and economic benefits for parents. It says, 'These benefits are often directly related to the extent of parents' involvement in the activities of the pre-school. This suggests there is scope for giving parental involvement greater attention and creating strategies to promote this in early years training programmes and in Ofsted Early Years Directorate inspections.'
Joan Dixon says, 'Parents come along and join the rota, go on courses, build up their confidence and end up on the staff. People have gone on into careers in childcare. We can now access free training through the partnership and Sure Start, which is a great help. When parents are beginning to get interested, they are not going to go on an expensive course.'
The threat to sustainability from schools taking younger children, which was a real concern in 1999, seems to have receded. While the settings are more stable financially, because of the nursery education grant, they still have to find funds for their running costs.
The report says, 'The follow-up research strongly indicates that there should be greater national recognition of the multiple roles that pre-schools, even the smallest of them, perform, particularly in deprived communities. The eventual integration of individual funding streams for initiatives such as Neighbourhood Nurseries and Early Excellence Centres will hopefully lead to longer-term sustainability.'
Circular process
However, the report goes on to say, 'Funders must be realistic regarding the impact these small organisations can have in deprived areas. Their overall role in reducing poverty and achieving greater social inclusion is limited, given the socio-economic circumstances and demographic composition of the areas in which they are located.
'"Neighbourhood Nurseries can't actually change the area," reports the First Steps Nursery, in Bath. "Our parent profile doesn't change, precisely because we're in this area. It is a circular process. Now that we have been going for seven years we've seen families come up and move on. Then another family moves in and it will be a single parent or a family with problems. You can't transform an area in a few years. Those who get on don't want to go on living in cramped conditions in this area, so they move out."
'In some areas, social problems have worsened, with pre-school staff reporting more drug-related problems, vandalism, crime and domestic violence.
'Pre-schools are catering for busier and more stressed parents, more lone parents, younger parents and more parents on income support and more parents suffering from domestic violence and are delivering a broader range of services.
These include providing:
- services for more children with special or additional needs, disabilities or behavioural problems
- care for younger children
- before- and after-school care
- summer holiday schemes
- more support in the transition to school
- more education and training opportunities.'
The report says that the settings are helping isolated and stressed parents to become part of a social network and engage in mutual self-help activities.
'Many current parents have developed wider networks, gained skills and qualifications, and begun new employment (often childcare-related), and a number have become involved in the wider community (for example, taking on active roles in the local Scouts, Brownies and Beavers, family centres and local schools).
'There was evidence of longer-term outcomes for some parents who were interviewed for both studies, including positive life and career changes, higher educational qualifications, great family stability and active community involvement.'
