A GRATEFUL READER
I just want to say a big 'thank you' for all the articles in Nursery World.
I am currently working towards my Level 4 Early Years and Child Care Certificate and have found so much information in Nursery World that is relevant to the questions. Without its help and advice each week, I would find things a lot more difficult.
I recommend anyone who works in a childcare setting to ensure they receive this magazine, as it really has the most up-to-date policies and practice to help and advise us. For such a low price it really is packed full of everything an early years practitioner will need.
With many thanks, and keep up the good work!
Grace Hopkins, Bristol
Letter of the Week wins £30 worth of books
HOLIDAY QUALITY
I have just read the article on the cost of holiday childcare (News, 17 July) and take huge issue with its content.
It states, 'Holiday childcare costs for parents in England have risen by 10 per cent in the past year, and provision is inadequate, the Daycare Trust said this week'.
I have read in detail the 'Holiday Childcare Costs Survey' produced by the Daycare Trust and at no point does it mention anything about provision being inadequate.
Given that we work in an industry that is regulated by Ofsted and everything is focused on the outcome of inspections, whereby as you well know, inadequate is a possible outcome, the wording of this sentence provides the clear inference that all holiday childcare is Ofsted 'Inadequate'.
I am prepared to suggest that Nursery World did not mean the term inadequate in this way, and instead was referring to the Daycare Trust's view. However, I think the choice of wording was very poor.
I think the article is one-sided and not a balanced view of holiday childcare. I manage a company that runs six holiday clubs in south-east England, five of which have been awarded 'Good' by Ofsted, with the sixth yet to be inspected, but certainly on target for another 'Good'.
Our average weekly cost is £76 for a 10am to 4pm day and £90.25 for a full 8.15am to 6pm day. Based on the longest day available (9.75 hours), that brings our hourly costs per child to £1.85. I would hardly consider £1.85 per hour a 'shockingly high' cost, especially when you consider that the average cost for a nursery place is £152 a week (incidentally, we also offer third child free and first visit free).
We offer a very similar level of care to that of nurseries, with similar overheads during a holiday period. We are not being greedy, just catching up with the rest of the childcare industry and charging a fair price for what is a very good standard of holiday care.
Lee Partner, director, KOOSA Kids Ltd
Editor's note: In the news story, 'inadequate' referred to the amount of affordable childcare available rather than the quality.
RIGHT WAY AROUND
I've been reading with interest the growing support for rear-facing buggies. When I became a new mother ten years ago I bought a reversible pushchair so I could converse with my baby. My romantic ideas were shattered when I discovered that having my baby facing me also placed his body weight further away from me. This weight displacement made manoeuvring the buggy on to kerbs a painful experience on a post-natal body.
I reverted to forward-facing, thinking it would be easier when I was physically fitter. However, three months later my baby had put on weight and the more he grew, the harder it was to manage the buggy. I did persevere, but my baby was usually hidden under a parasol or rain cover, inhibiting any communication between us anyway.
Rear-facing buggies sound like a good idea and are probably wonderful for an Italian mother strolling alongside Lake Garda, but in a UK town where there are kerbs and steps to negotiate, I have personally found they are just not practical, unless, of course, you're into power-pramming.
R Mehmet, London
- Send your letters to ... The Editor, Nursery World, 174 Hammersmith Road, London W6 7JP letter.nw@haymarket.com 020 8267 8402.
