Playdays pre-school and playscheme in Sutton is privately owned and operates from shared space in three rooms in the Friends Meeting House. The pre-school offers the 15 hours free entitlement for a maximum of 24 children, aged from two to rising five years, each day. Playdays is open five days a week for 38 weeks a year, except on Tuesday afternoons as the building is used for other purposes. Despite this hurdle, it now offers a comprehensive 15-hour flexible package. Families can use a variety of sessions: mornings five days a week; afternoons on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday; and full days on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday from 9am to 3pm.
PROVIDING CHOICE
Feedback from families has been very positive. Staff comments suggest that the previous two-and-a-half hour model did not meet the needs of many local families. Now the flexible offer provides real choices to help the balance between home and work, reduces childcare costs, and assists where there may be shared care with grandparents.
The flexible offer has also had a positive impact on the sustainability of the pre-school. The number of children on register in September 2011 was higher than ever before, which the staff team think is a result of the flexibility meeting parental demand.
Previously, sessions were organised around age groups. The staff team thought about organisation and planning to ensure it met the needs of mixed age groups, compounded by the needs of different cohorts of children the flexible sessions introduced. The Ofsted report of March 2011 observed that as a result of time invested in thinking through these changes, 'children build excellent relationships with the staff and their peers and this is truly enhanced through the excellent key person system'.
Further information: James Hempsall is director of training and research provider Hempsalls www.hempsallconsultancies.com
