The Nursery World 2002 student essay competition, which ran earlier this year, attracted entries from students on a wide range of childcare and early years education courses, from NVQ 2 to degree level. Their work was considered, amusing and imaginative, as they set out to paint a fascinating portrait of what childcare could look like in 2052.
Nicola Clark
1st prize - 1,000
BA Hons Early Childhood Studies, University College Chichester Nicola's detailed examination of a new approach and curriculum for young children won her the top award.
* Childcare has changed a lot since the beginning of the Millennium. One of the biggest changes was the Government's realisation that children were going to school too young. They finally decided to follow the European example, and now children do not start full-time schooling until they are six years old. This ruling was, of course, followed by yet another change to the early years curriculum.
The Foundation Stage Curriculum was abolished as it was decided that it made play too structured and put too much pressure on both young children and childcare practitioners. Day nurseries were now to run using 'The Quality Play Document'. This document set about to ensure that day nursery practitioners were providing quality learning through play experiences. By this time, all nurseries were purpose-built, and The Quality Play Document passed regulations stating that every nursery must have a large indoor soft play area, and an all-weather outdoor area.
The Quality Play Document held no set targets for children to achieve. It was decided that as long as children were given quality play experiences and regular new experiences within a stimulating environment, they would develop holistically. All formal learning such as reading and writing was left until the child entered school.
As more and more parents opted for full-time daycare for their children, often beginning at the age of three months, it was decided that the nursery environment was too unnatural and therefore unsuitable for children. New legislation was passed, requiring all day nurseries to run within a 'family' grouping system. Each qualified nursery nurse would be assigned three children -one between nought and two years, one between two and four years and the other between four and six years. Siblings were kept together where possible. The nursery nurse would be the key worker for his/her assigned children until they left the nursery. This system provided the child with a person to whom they could develop a stronger attachment.
Separation anxiety is extremely rare and children tend to be a lot happier in this situation.
The family grouping system is much more natural for the child than the former ratios of 1:3 for babies, 1:4 for toddlers and 1:8 for three-year-olds. What mother ever raised eight children of the same age at the same time?
As the adult:child ratio was so low, nursery nurses were designated time each day in which they would take their key children on outings. These could be to the park or zoo or even as simple as shopping for some new toys, providing the children with a change of environment, new experiences and social skills.
In the nursery each room/area is based on one of the old curriculum areas of physical development, creative development, personal, social and emotional development, knowledge and understanding, language and literacy and mathematical development. Different nursery nurses supervise each room and the children are free to play anywhere and need only stay with their key worker should they wish. There are separated areas for sleeping, and the children will eat in their family group.
Thirty per cent of nursery staff are now male and this trend seems to be increasingly. All staff in the nursery have to be qualified and are required to hold up-to-date First Aid certificates. Nurseries are inspected once a month for standard quality.
Even with the amazing changes to nurseries, nannies are still a popular form of childcare. There is now a nanny register, ensuring that all nannies are police-checked and hold a valid childcare qualification, which is now legally required if you are to work as a nanny. They are inspected by Ofsted and are expected to attend refresher courses once a year on First Aid, child health and safety, and child development, due to the higher level of responsibility nannies have.
Childminders are now a thing of the past. As day nurseries changed and qualifications were required for anyone caring for other people's children, fewer people used childminders and fewer people became childminders.
The main focus for development of the under-sixes is growth, physical development, creativity, imagination and social skills. This is very different to the academic emphasis on language and literacy and mathematics from the early Millennium. I still cannot believe when I read in books that nursery nurses sat three-year-olds down to learn to write and four-year-olds were packed off to school, instead of experiencing the freedom and joy of real play. I also cannot believe that babies were put together in one room, in which they would spend the whole day. How did the nursery nurses manage to give each one the love and attention young babies need, when each nursery nurse would have had three babies the same age, all wanting holding at the same time? How were children able to form strong attachments when most nurseries split the children depending on age, so the children only spent three to six months being cared for by the same person?
Childcare has changed a lot since 2002 - I believe for the better.
Caroline Costello
2nd prize - 500
Diploma in Childcare and Education, New College Durham
Caroline captured the joy of a child's day in a technologically advanced society.
* My name is Poppy and I'm three-and-a-half years old. I go to the QE2 Nursery, in the building where my Dad works. Usually Dad drops me at nursery on his way to work, as he has an old-fashioned job in an office, but today Mum is taking me instead.
When we arrive at nursery I press my index finger on a keypad. The keypad recognises my fingerprint and the door opens to let Mum and me in. Mum says the keypad is really useful; it stores all sorts of information about me, such as how old I am, what illnesses I've had and all about my family. It also lets the staff know the time I arrive at nursery and when I go home and it's linked to a computer that works out the nursery fees for Mum and Dad.
My Gran used to work in a nursery and she tells me stories of what it was like 'in the olden days'. Gran says that nursery staff nowadays should be called 'Programme Analysts', as they have to spend so much time on the computer analysing what we've done from our daily and weekly printouts. Dad says she is just old-fashioned, but Gran laughs and tells him you can't beat old-fashioned observation skills!
Kirsty Brooks
3rd prize - 250
NVQ3 Early Years Care and Education, Smart Training
Kirsty used her imagination to the full with a prospectus for a very futuristic nursery.
How we help
We want our children to have the safest environment possible and here at Cybercare we try by generating our own electricity, through solar panels in our building's structure. For the cleanest, purest air for the children we use the most extensive air conditioning filtering system of this day and age.
The building itself is made of recycled building materials and in the grounds there is a nature area for animals to come and live in and for our children to visit (a little bit of history). We also have a greenhouse that houses all of our plants and we grow our own fruit and vegetables, which the children can try from time to time.
We also have an allocated area for hoverboard parking, which will hopefully encourage the children and parents alike to use this eco-friendly form of transport.
Staffing
Cybercare staff are all qualified practitioners with experience in childcare, or are assistants that are training in our in-house training centre. Our staff also have to attend a course at our Cybercare camp before commencing work.To help with our busy mealtimes we have the help of 'Moby and Millie', the mealtime robots!
