James is a Group Manager of a small (but growing) group of nurseries. He has over 20 years’ experience of working in early years and education and falls into the minority category of a ‘male working in childcare’. He is a parent so looks at things though multiple lenses when talking about the issues that currently effect the childcare sector. Here he has opened his diary to let us see his thoughts on all things Early Years and the fun and games that come with growing a small group.
August 2023 – Childcare is not free!
Although I am not permanently in setting nowadays, I still get involved with conversations with parents talking about their ‘free childcare’, and even after 20 years in the sector, the conversations still have the ability to frustrate me. Not the parents themselves, but the general misconception that the hours are ‘free’. The government and the media sell the 15/30 hours as ‘free childcare’ and this is simply not the case and very misleading for parents.
I am a parent that relied on the ‘free childcare’, but being in a position where I could afford to ‘top-up’ was still a hardship as it is for many families today. We are constantly having conversations with parents to explain why there are additional costs and how while we, like many early years settings use the monetary value of the funding to reduce the fee’s they have to pay we do need to charge extras for consumables to make up the loss or risk running out of money to provide the service.
Me and the Managers across the group are always looking for ways to inform parents as to how the system works and what the ‘free’ hours actually cover. But the approach has to be a positive. Many families are already struggling with the current cost of living crisis and rising childcare costs are only likely to add to this strain and while the early years settings are facing similar pressures of soaring energy prices and other rising costs, the parents don’t need or want to hear the full woes of the sector. Save that for the Facebook forums!
We could tell them that the industry press are reporting 5,000 early years settings have closed in the last year and more than 40% of settings fear closure within the next 12 months, or that on average providers lose about £2 per child, per hour, but they are already juggling their own raising mortgage costs, work demands and fuel bills, they don’t need our problems as well.
Instead as a group we try to focus on providing information about how the system works to the parents, and how any extra costs are used. Constantly showcasing what we are doing every day with the kids and how any extra funds are being put to use to help their children expand and grow.
This is more important than ever at the moment as the press is full of ‘more free hours’. Rather than spending too much time explaining once again that ‘free’ does not necessarily mean ‘free, we should be sharing the exciting news that funding is actually going up, and that they will get even more for any extras that they pay for.
Our local authorities have reported that the funding rate for 2 year olds will be above £7 going forward and more than £5 an hour for the 3/4year old funding. This is great news for our parents and families especially for families that receive the 2 year-old funding because as a group we are able to offer all 2 year-old children their full entitlement but also provide a hot cooked meal, healthy snacks, resources and consumables, nappies and wipes at no extra cost. Furthermore, the children will experience extracurricular activities such as a sports coach, dance, drama, music and for the older children an extra language. As a group we will also be able to provide children with opportunities to experience trips out that not all families are able to afford as part of our culture capital.
So, that is what I am focusing on this month. Making sure that our parents know how excited we are about the increased funding and all the great things it will mean for their children but also working with the staff and Managers to help parents understand how their funding works and what we do with the money.
We all know what this sector needs. In a nutshell, more money and clearer communication as to funding, for all stakeholders. In reality, we can’t do much about the first point ourselves, but communication is the basis of everything we do. Working with the parents to best understand the system means a better cohesion of Nursery and Parents and the ones who will benefit from it the most are the children we work with.
