These changes were reflected in a charter for parents and the early years, which would secure a childcare or nursery education place for every child who needs one; continuity of care for children; full consultation with parents to ensure that provision is matched to family needs; the formation of parent boards for all early years settings; and drop-in and advice services for parents.
The charter has now been endorsed by nearly 50 Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships. Next, we hope to work with a small number of EYDCPs to pilot approaches to making these principles a reality.
The 'Changing lives changing life' campaign will have a fresh impetus this year, focusing on child poverty and its negative consequences for early childhood development. While area childcare initiatives like the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative provide intensive resources to combat child poverty, two-thirds of children living in poverty do not live in the most disadvantaged areas. As a strand of our campaign, we will looking into poverty within our pre-schools.
The Alliance believes that all parents should be encouraged and have the right to be partners in education and childcare, whatever the type of setting.
In Denmark, parents constitute a majority on family daycare councils, while in Norway, every child centre also has a parents' council. In other countries across Europe, in a variety of ways, there is an increasing emphasis on working with parents as stakeholders in the provision of early years services. A further strand of our campaign will be to secure something nearer to this approach for parents in this country.
