Autumn 2015
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Opinion Making our voice heard
Our cal l
n o i t c to a Following its high-profile launch, PACEY’s Building blocks report continues to influence policy-making in England, as PACEY’s Media and Communications Manager Chris Underwood explains.
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ithin 48 hours of releasing PACEY’s sector survey, Building blocks, a report on the state of the childcare and early years sector in England, PACEY Local Facilitator Dorothy Williams stepped into the media spotlight to appear on Sky News: “It’s great to say ‘Yes, we’re going to double the hours’, but where is this money going to come from, and what support are they going to put in place to ensure that settings can provide this care at that cost?”
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The following week it was seen in Whitehall, being studied with great interest by the Government’s Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Childcare and Education, Sam Gyimah MP, and his team. By the time you read this, no doubt Building blocks will have made further appearances, either in the media or in the hands of policy-makers.
Making an impact PACEY sees Building blocks as our call to action. It reinforces our demands for a workforce strategy that continually supports childcare professionals throughout their careers, and that makes them feel supported for the vital work that they do. It calls for adequate funding and investment across the sector; and it calls for an emphasis on quality of experience for the
child, making them “life ready, not just school ready”, as one respondent put it.
Our survey, your views PACEY’s most comprehensive survey to date, the findings of the Building blocks report are based solely on the views of early years professionals like you – people working day-in day-out as childminders, nursery staff, and nannies; whether in home-based settings, or in large nurseries with many other staff.
Are we at tipping point? The Government must take note; almost 70 per cent of you have no plans to grow your businesses in the next year and over a quarter are less confident in the future of your business than 12 months ago. More worryingly, a fifth of those who
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completed the survey working in home-based settings are uncertain as to whether they will still be working in childcare in 12 months’ time. Now that David Cameron has announced his ambitious plans to double the free hours of care for 3- and 4-year-olds, we will continue to draw on the Building blocks findings, as well as seeking your views and input, to help frame our response to the consultations, and to inform our discussions with policymakers about the practical challenges of delivering these increased funded hours. Our response will have its foundations in the picture painted by the Building blocks report of a sector at tipping point. When we talk to the politicians, we reinforce our message of a service at tipping point. Through conversations with ministers, MPs and policy-makers, we are continuing to influence the case for change, and call for more investment and support to help childcare professionals deliver the high quality of care that children deserve.
A time for action We are asking the Government to commit to a workforce strategy that improves and enhances the professionalism of the sector right through from
apprenticeships to Qualified Teacher Status. The Building blocks report shows that a continually self-improving workforce is a motivated one and that equates to growth. Group and home providers both said that the highest ranking benefit of continuous training was increased confidence. As PACEY Chief Executive, Liz Bayram, recently put it in the Guardian: “Unless the investment is there to provide childcare practitioners with the professional development they need to incentivise them through their careers, and the funding for the huge increase in free childcare places the Government is offering, then
A voice for Wales PACEY Cymru are working closely with Cwlwm partners, Welsh Government and other key stakeholders on the development of a survey around qualifications and workforce development for publication later this year. Please keep an eye out on the website and in e-newsletters for further information on this as it develops.
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we risk stagnation across the sector and a significant shortfall in affordable childcare places across the country.”
Our findings in numbers
Media spotlight As the Childcare Bill makes its way through Parliament and beyond, our commitment to you is to make sure your voice, your concerns, are heard. Liz Bayram has been in regular discussions with Sam Gyimah, the childcare minister, and his team since the launch of the Building blocks report to take these ideas forward. You can be assured that PACEY members will be the first to know of our progress. The report has provided a great foundation on which to build these conversations and will continue to influence our position with policy-makers over the coming months. We recommend that you have a look at it, if you get a chance. Read it online at pacey.org. uk/buildingblocks
Autumn 2015
20% of home-based providers are unsure whether they will be working in childcare in 12 months’ time
2,442 childcare professionals took part in the survey
70% 70% do not plan to grow their business
15 07/08/2015 08:22
Feature Looked-after children
Looking after looked-after children With 15,320 children in care aged 4 and under in the UK, more childminders and nursery workers are caring for looked-after children. Millie Clarke from the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) explains how to support children at such a critical time in their lives.
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ooked-after children are particularly vulnerable. They are more likely than other children their age to display emotional and behavioural problems or experience developmental delay. Problems resulting from abuse and neglect can be complicated, and are often not easily managed. With the right support, childminders and nursery carers can play a critical role in improving outcomes for
children who are looked after. Always speak to the carer or social worker to find out what is ‘behind the label’; get to know the child in your care and understand their quirks and needs. Children in care under 4 can be looked after in a number of ways. They could be in fostering placements, either with a family member or friend who has been approved as a foster carer or is an agency-approved foster carer. They may be placed with an adoptive family
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or on a Special Guardianship Order (SGO), where they will be cared for by a member of the extended family or a family friend.
Image posed by models
Finding the right childcare Physical health conditions are also more common in looked-after children. Just over nine per cent of children on the Adoption Register have a significant disability. The definition of “significant disability” includes children with Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, mobility problems and foetal alcohol syndrome. Childcare settings can make simple adaptations to include children with additional needs, as foster mum Yvonne’s* story shows. Yvonne and her husband have three foster children, aged 1, 3 and 4. They live in Scotland and are permanent foster parents to Ruby*, the eldest, who has congenital myotonic dystrophy, a muscle-wasting condition. Due to her additional needs, at the age of 2, Ruby was offered a place at a nursery with a specialist annex. Yvonne said: “Every day Ruby would cry about leaving me, and although she was settled while at the nursery, the staff tended to be overprotective. They treated her like a doll, and discouraged her from playing with the help of her walking frame. Despite their best intentions, I felt that they were holding her back.” Yvonne looked around for an alternative setting. She approached her now grownup son’s old primary school to see if the attached nursery there had a place. The school had never taken a child with
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additional support needs before but was enthusiastic about taking Ruby and she is now part of their mainstream nursery setting. Ruby communicates using Makaton, and is now starting to use words. Yvonne is delighted with Ruby’s progress at the school nursery: “Working in partnership with the staff really helps. They complete a learning journey online that we can look at together at home, and for Ruby they also produce an extra diary to provide continuity. Her nursery group now learns a new Makaton sign every week and all the children really enjoy that. I create routine by talking about her day and reassuring Ruby that I will be picking her up and by telling her what we will do after nursery. When I ask her what she thinks about nursery, Ruby signs ‘Good!’ She really misses it, and her new friends, during the holidays.”
Necessary support All children who become looked after, or have a plan for adoption, are required by law to have a thorough health assessment. This should include everything from family medical history, past medical history, to a chronological list of health events, including immunisations, injuries and common illnesses and a full assessment of current physical health, including vision, hearing and dental care. If you are caring for a lookedafter child, check with your child’s carer or social worker to ensure that you have access to the necessary support for that child. Of course, in some instances, children with good attachments to their primary
Ruby’s nursery group learns a new Makaton sign every week and all the children enjoy it carer will thrive, as foster mum Nicky* describes. Anna*, now 6, began at a school-based nursery just after she turned 3. She had been with her foster family for two years and foster mum Nicky was keen for her to attend that particular nursery. As a former teacher at the attached school, she had good relationships with the staff and Anna knew it well. For Anna, the transition was easy. Nicky said: “The social worker was very sympathetic to my preference for the nursery at the school where I used to work. Anna didn’t have any particular issues, and her familiarity with the environment meant she enjoyed going for five mornings a week. Like many children, it is the food that Anna remembers: ‘I liked the snack bar as it had lots of healthy things to eat.’” Since April 2015, looked-after children, adopted children and those on an SGO or Child Arrangement Order are eligible for an Early Years Pupil Premium, which is available to help nursery staff access the additional support they may need. For further information, contact BAAF (see box).
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Resources BAAF provides expert advice, training and publications for carers of lookedafter children. Its Parenting Matters series combines expert advice with firsthand experience from carers. These are available at baaf.org.uk
Early Years Pupil Premium Visit bit.ly/ EYPPguideforLA and gov.uk/helpwith-childcarecosts for more information about funding for 2-yearolds under local authority care. * All names have been changed
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Feature Conference
Anyone who came to the PACEY conference in May will be able to tell you what an inspiring and motivational event it was. Volunteer Engagement Manager Lauren Sampson brings you highlights from the May conference and looks forward to the next one in November.
Penny Tassoni, PACEY’s President
PACEY conference
It was brilliant! Penny says things we think but don’t say. Jacqueline White
The Power of Play: ideas, inspiration and insights
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aturday 16 May saw PACEY’s London conference, a day about the power of play filled with insightful and thoughtprovoking content, workshops, exhibitors and a superhero selfie or two. For those who attended, and those who missed it, we’ve put together a summary of the wonderful workshops and learning opportunities the conference gave everyone.
Highlights of the day Penny Tassoni, PACEY’s President: Keynote: The rainbow shades of play – an exploration Some important messages came out of her speech including how we should see play as something that comes in many colours and shades. Penny also talked about the need to be thoughtful about how individual children
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need to play and their needs on that particular day.
Gill Jones, Deputy Director of Early Education at Ofsted: Latest from Ofsted Delegates were given the opportunity to hear from and put their questions to Gill Jones. She began with a presentation that looked more closely at the Common Inspection Framework and British values, before taking questions from the room.
Ben Tawil: Play: The importance of the seemingly frivolous Ben argued against a prevailing view that play needs to “achieve” something. Free undirected play, he explained, is seen as frivolous because it isn’t producing or leading to anything tangible. But his view that play should be seen as an end in itself was warmly echoed by delegates.
Julia Sudbury: Superheroes to the rescue! A Power of Play conference wouldn’t be complete without a super superhero workshop, and PACEY Associate Julia Sudbury delivered just that. In her session, she reassured everyone that although many might worry that superhero play might create chaos, it, in fact, brings loads of fantastic benefits. Julia emphasised the importance of expanding superhero play to meet the interests of the child. It’s not just the popular superheroes we need to remember. It’s about thinking of those characters they can relate to and enjoy, from Fireman Sam to Dora the Explorer or one of the Frozen characters.
Dr Pam Jarvis: Play in the early years, learning for life Pam talked about her concern that children were exposed to
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Andy Cope
Play is so important – it’s development. [It was] a brilliant conference – so much fitted into one day. Rachel Fullelove
I found Ben’s talk so inspiring. Having too much structure takes away the ‘playness’ of play. He talked about children’s need for private play. I used to have a ‘quiet area’ to let the children have some quiet time away from adult eyes.
I enjoyed the talk. It’s nice to feel that someone feels the same way as you [about the restriction to free play]. I don’t feel it as a childminder, but I feel it as a mum.
Pip Chambers
Sally Harvey
too many rules and restrictions. Too much “judgement by inspection” can lead to box-ticking and children being pushed into certain play activities which prevent them developing at their own pace.
Andy Cope: The art of being brilliant The day ended with an uplifting session from “happiness expert” Andy Cope. He had the room giggling, cheering and smiling with his talk about positivity and work, suggesting that Monday should be our favourite day of the week.
Want to read more about the day? Members can download slides and conference resources from the day in MyPACEY by visiting pacey.org.uk/ conference-resources
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Join us at our York conference Be happy, be healthy: supporting wellbeing in the early years. Our next conference will be held at the Park Inn by Radisson in York on Saturday 7 November. This event will be a fantastic opportunity to explore ways to help keep you and your practice healthy, as well as focusing on your integral role of helping children be happy and healthy.
Highlights of the programme to look forward to are: • PACEY President, Penny Tassoni, with her talk, “Attachment matters: an exploration of the importance of positive relationships in early childhood”. • Lee Owston, Senior HM Inspector at Ofsted, visiting us to explain all you need to know about the new Common
Inspection Framework. • Andy Cope – back by very popular demand, he will inspire you to feel better, happier and help you do the same for the children you care for. Expert speakers from the Institute of Health Visiting and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health will cover sessions on children’s emotional and physical wellbeing, and the importance of nutrition, as well as practical tips about your role in delivering the new Integrated Review at age 2½. The programme will include a range of lively and practical workshops covering areas such as Register now and find mindfulness for the early years, an interactive out more about the music and dance conference programme session and practical by visiting tips on how to discuss pacey.org.uk/ emotion and feelings with children using books conference and other resources.
Book your place today
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