Early years education and childcare has been the focus of considerable political attention and investment over the past decade, and a great deal of progress has been made. With an election looming and political parties all vying for the family vote, this will be a critical year. It is crucial that, whichever party comes to power, we continue to maintain momentum towards ensuring that all families have access to the choice of high-quality childcare that best meets their needs.
NCMA is keen to ensure that registered childminders are considered equal, but different, to forms of group care, providing the same level of professional, quality childcare to families. For this to happen, we need a strong and vibrant childminding sector, where practitioners are offered continuing, dedicated support with implementing the EYFS in England and, for network childminders, the Foundation Phase in Wales. In addition, potential Governments of all persuasions must commit to supporting providers to remain sustainable and market their business through challenging economic times.
As well as ensuring this effective supply of childcare, we must ensure that it is of sufficiently high quality to improve the lives of children. A key element of improving quality is ensuring all childminders have access to a quality improvement network. We know that networks, when organised appropriately, enable childminders to access crucial peer support and review as well as a dedicated co-ordinator helping to guide their professional development.
However, networks are not universally available. It is vital that the next Government makes it a statutory local authority requirement to establish a quality improvement network. It is clear, too, from research evidence, that there is a strong link between qualification levels and the quality of provision. NCMA and the majority of our members believe that all childminders should be qualified to Level 3 within five years of registration. But in order for this to become a reality, there needs to be a clearly defined and funded pathway for childminders, including a process to accredit prior learning and the provision of accessible courses.
Registered childminders and nannies contribute a significant amount to the lives of children and families. Politically, we need to continually return to the principle of a mixed economy of childcare provision, where different forms of childcare are supported and invested in evenly by Government and celebrated for the different benefits they can offer children and families.
