Nursery World - Going beyond what is 'good'

By Susan Hay, chair of Nurseryworks Family Solutions, Kinderquest,Red Apple Nurseries and Bright Horizons Ireland. It is often the case that if a profession is having difficulty meeting the needs of consumers, the regulators will step in. This is what has happened to our sector and why we are to have the Investors in Children initiative in England - a star rating scheme to indicate quality of provision.

It is often the case that if a profession is having difficulty meeting the needs of consumers, the regulators will step in. This is what has happened to our sector and why we are to have the Investors in Children initiative in England - a star rating scheme to indicate quality of provision.

While we know more and more about children's entitlements, we also know more and more about parental expectations - which we are not always meeting. The reason for this is that they are both dynamic, they never stand still.

A Conservative minister once said to me, 'We cannot let the excellence drive out the good.' Why not? Today's excellence is only tomorrow's standard because excellence, or high quality, is a moving target, like meeting the consumer's need - and this is the target providers neglect at their peril.

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