Scotland’s childcare expansion programme: new data published

The Scottish Government has published the third phase of its Scottish Study of Early Learning and Childcare (SSELC), a research project established to evaluate the expansion of early learning and childcare in Scotland.

This final phase of the baseline data collection, looked at three-year-old children in their first term of funded ELC [early learning and childcare] provision, and also followed up the same group of eligible two-year-old children from Phase 1 of the study after they had experienced a year of 600 hours of ELC.

The report states, ‘There are some indications that an increase in hours of ELC may benefit the more disadvantaged families and help to close the gap. The year of ELC the Eligible 2s have already received appears to have helped them on measures of development.

‘The parents of the Eligible 2s tend to have engaged well with the ELC settings and they recognise the opportunities afforded to them in having their child in nursery, in terms of taking up employment or having more time to do other things.’

However, the summary findings in the report state that the data should be interpreted ‘with caution’.

It reads, ‘While there appears to be progress, it is important to remember that Phase 3 is part of the baseline, and the key objective will be to assess whether the progress is greater after a year of 1140 hours of ELC once the expansion is complete.’

Sector response

Early Years Scotland (EYS) welcomed the findings, which it said showed the important role of high quality early years education, particularly for disadvantaged children's development. 

A spokesperson told Nursery World, ‘This extremely important research continues to demonstrate just how important access to high quality ELC is, in giving a child the best start in life. There are a number of findings which demonstrate this, for example the increase in the number of children who, having benefitted from a year of funded ELC at eligible 2s stage in particular, showed an improvement in their progress, which then continued on.

‘The fact that provision of high quality ELC is enhancing the developmental progress of some of the most disadvantaged children, and is then remaining at a positive level as they progress through their early learning journey is extremely welcome. We are also pleased to note that parents/carers are able to begin to return to, or start work, as a result of their child’s funded ELC place, allowing parents/carers the opportunity to think about their own future.

‘EYS welcomes the fact that the reports states the value of the home learning environment, especially for eligible 2 year olds. Regular engagement in simple, low cost home learning activities such as regular reading and singing, is known to have a very positive impact on children’s development and can support closing the pervasive attainment gap in Scotland.

'EYS hopes to see this gap narrow as full entitlement to 1140 hours becomes a statutory requirement, allowing more young children high quality experiences within an ELC setting.

'It is also wonderful to read that parents/carers of eligible 2 year olds in particular, have engaged positively with settings, and we can report that this is very much the case for the EYS 2 Stay Play and Learn service in partnership with Glasgow City Council, that supports eligible 2 year olds and their families together.’

Childminders

Childminding was not included within the research, due to the small numbers of childminders involved in delivering funded hours.

The latest Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) said many childminders found it difficult to be included in the funded hours and more needed to be done to support them.

The SCMA Audit reporting local authorities’ progress in including childminders in delivery of funded hours, published in October 2019, found that only 3.3 per cent of childminders in Scotland were involved in delivering funded hours for eligible two year-olds and only 4.2 per cent of childminders for three and four year-olds.

Graeme McAlister, chief executive, SCMA, said, ‘While some local authorities who understand the benefits of childminding have been very supportive and have included childminders in the delivery of funded hours, sadly this has not been the experience throughout Scotland and many childminders have experienced difficulties getting involved in delivery.

‘As such, much remains to be done in enabling childminders to participate in ELC expansion. Recognising the low level of childminders currently involved in funded hours delivery, the Scottish Government is planning to undertake separate qualitative research shortly into the quality within childminding and outcomes for children and families linked to ELC and SCMA is contributing to this.’

He added, ‘The full implementation of 1140 funded hours of ELC in Scotland has been delayed by Covid-19. As such, it may be some time before we see the full impact of this policy on closing the attainment gap and improving children’s and families’ outcomes. However, the findings of Phase 3 of the Scottish Study of Early Learning and Childcare do present some encouraging findings on children’s outcomes.’

A Scottish Government spokesperson said, ‘We have established the Scottish Study of Early Learning and Childcare so that we can evaluate the impact of the extra funded ELC hours on children, parents, and families’ outcomes. This report is helpful in establishing the final part of the baseline for our study. We look forward to future reports which will help us to understand the impact of extra funded ELC for children and families across Scotland.

‘We have always been clear that the suspension of the statutory duty on local authorities to provide 1140 hours is a pause, not a stop. The pandemic has had an obvious impact on construction and recruitment plans across the country, however local authorities are making good progress to get back on track and we will continue to support them to do so. We will agree a new delivery date with local government before the end of this year and continue to work with partners to deliver this transformational policy.’

The report Scottish Study of Early Learning and Childcare: Three year-olds Phase 3, describes baseline data for children receiving 600 hours of funded provision and does not provide any findings on the expansion to 1140 hours.