More play time happens at private nurseries, survey finds
Melanie Defries
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Children in private nurseries spend more time engaging in general play activities than those in maintained settings, new research has found.
A survey of schools and private nurseries, which generated 510 responses, found that 37 per cent of nurseries spent more than three-quarters of their time on general play activities, while only 11 per cent of schools did the same. Private nurseries also spent less time teaching using traditional resources, with 40 per cent of nurseries devoting less than one quarter of the day using them, compared with 29 per cent of nursery units.
Only a handful of schools and nurseries were making extensive use of ICT in any single week. The biggest difference in the type of ICT resources used was with interactive whiteboards. While 89 per cent of teachers in schools had access to interactive whiteboards, only 28 per cent of practitioners in nurseries could say the same.
Nearly two-thirds of early years units in maintained schools had specific budgets for resources, compared with only a fifth of private nurseries. While schools allocated an average of £23 per child for resources, private nurseries allocated an average of £63 per child. Most of the resource budget for both schools and nurseries was spent on indoor and outdoor play equipment and art and craft materials.
The survey asked what benefits had been received from the Early Years Capital Grant, which was set up to support spending of more than £2,500, and from EYFS training. Nearly half of day nurseries said they had received a significant benefit from EYCG funding. Most settings had spent their grant on outdoor play equipment, followed by ICT and indoor play equipment.
Ray Barker, director of the British Educational Suppliers Association, which carried out the research, said, 'There has been much debate over whether early years educators should be continuing to teach, or if they should focus more on learning through play. Our research indicates that private nurseries and nursery units within state schools are taking a very different approach.'
Further information
'Early Years Resourcing in Schools and Nurseries' is available via www.besa.org.uk.
