In its five-year strategy the Government has announced its plan to transform nursery education into 'educare'. This will allow families to use their 12 and a half hours of nursery education flexibly across the week, to meet their individual needs.
Anl illustration of the proposal is given in the strategy paper. Suzie's parents both work shifts. By reorganising Suzie's hours to fit her parents'
shift patterns and buying extra childcare on top, Suzie's family will be better off and Suzie will have continuity of care. It sounds like a good idea.
Unfortunately, it isn't. The proposal describes Suzie going for her free hours 'usually in the afternoon'. But anyone trying to provide quality group childcare will see the problem. It's important for children to make and sustain friendships at nursery. But if Suzie and all her friends have shifting patterns of attendance - a whole day on Monday, an hour on Tuesday, nothing on Wednesday, then two afternoons - these close relationships are going to be undermined. It will not be quality childcare, which depends on consistency and careful grouping.
Effective education depends on a regular pattern of attendance, so staff can plan to engage with the child's learning and plan to extend it. The 'educare' proposal would mean that on Monday a small group of children might have a significant experience in the water tray; the practitioners would respond thoughtfully to this on Tuesday, only to find that half the children are not there.
This proposal is part of the Government's 'personalisation and choice'
agenda. But education and childcare are not just consumer goods to be divided up and repackaged. There is more to good public services than choice alone. It is our duty as professionals to preserve quality care and education for children.
