After Nursery World interviewed the minister, the Government released more details of its school-based nurseries policy during the Labour Party Conference on Wednesday 25 September.
CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT’S PLAN FOR SCHOOL-BASED NURSERIES?
We’re committed to working towards the childcare entitlements that families are being promised, giving every child the opportunity to have the best start in life. We absolutely recognise this is not going to be easy.
You’ll know that 85,000 new childcare places are needed. That’s more than double the increase in places than over the last five years.
We absolutely recognise there’s no immediate fix, but we do believe in the 3,000 school-based nurseries. In the coming weeks, we will set out more detail on that.
I absolutely get people’s concerns surrounding the policy. It will work for so many families. Obviously, we’ve got childcare deserts across the country, especially within our most deprived communities. It will work in some places, and be a good solution to surplus places and spare classrooms, but I think it’s part of a broader picture.
A big priority for me has been resetting the relationship with the sector. I’ve been doing that by getting out and about, visiting nurseries up and down the country, listening to stakeholders and having roundtable discussions.
I want to work in partnership with the sector to understand that the challenges and also the opportunities ahead of us in delivering our ambitions are huge.
HOW ARE YOU PLANNING ON RECRUITING THE ADDITIONAL STAFF NEEDED FOR THE NEXT PHASE OF THE EXPANDED OFFER?
We’ve got to work in partnership, listen and engage and also understand the challenges that the sector are facing, so not only on the plans around nurseries within primary schools, but huge workforce challenges that we face.
My sister is an early years practitioner and has been bending my ear. I also want to talk to the sector, and hopefully in my first few weeks, I’ve already been showing that I mean business.
I’ve been hugely impressed by everyone I’ve met in the sector. You don’t go into this job for the salary, but to make a difference to children’s lives. That’s very clear from the passion and enthusiasm that my sister talks about, having been an early years practitioner for 20 years.
I want to make sure we’ve got a system that celebrates and recognises early years careers – and certainly the changing title of my role, you know, talking about early education, shows how seriously we are taking that.
We’ve reignited the Do Something Big campaign and we’re exploring apprenticeship routes. The T-Level in early years is something that we’re keen to progress, as well as looking at other pathways into employment in the early years. We are absolutely committed to progressing that, and do see it as a good route into the sector, but again, we recognise the scale of the challenge, and therefore we’ve got to look at a number of options to grow the workforce that we need to deliver on that service for parents.
The key thing I want to do is listen to and engage with what the sector is telling us about what more we can do.
HOW DOES THE DFE PLAN TO BOOST RETENTION?
This is a question that I’ve been asking quite a bit, because I’ve been really interested over the years in teacher recruitment and retention. With the way the system currently works, it’s really difficult to get retention data with the plethora of providers that are currently in place.
Whenever I visit a nursery, I ask about their retention rate, and where people go after choosing to leave. We know that some go on to the school sector, but we also know that we lose people to Tesco, and I think we’ve got to better understand that data. We’re providing better support for those that work in the early years and recognise the valuable contribution they make.
WHEN WILL THE GOVERNMENT ROLL OUT FREE BREAKFAST CLUBS IN ALL PRIMARY SCHOOLS?
This is a hugely popular policy, as I heard on the doorstep during the election. We are working through the detail of what this looks like.
I’m mindful that a number of schools already have breakfast clubs. There’s a discussion about what the food offer should look like. We’re going to be working with the sector to think that through and make sure that what we do meets local circumstances. But it’s a really exciting policy offer that I think will make a real difference in giving children the best start.
RESEARCH BY THE NATIONAL DAY NURSERIES ASSOCIATION (NDNA) SUGGESTED ONLY A SMALL AMOUNT OF THE CAPITAL FUNDING FOR THE EXPANDED OFFER HAS BEEN PASSED TO PROVIDERS. WHAT IS THE DFE DOING TO CHANGE THIS?
My background is in local government, so as I came into the department, I was really keen to make sure we’ve got strong and robust and effective relationships with councils up and down the country, because they’re so keen on the delivery of our ambitions on childcare.
I’ve already met with the Local Government Association. My department is in regular contact with local authorities, and we are confident about the delivery of the funding to meet local needs. It will happen.
Of course, the most significant growth in places will be next September. Therefore, we do expect that local authorities will be distributing the funding to support that final stage, something that absolutely I’m wanting to understand and monitor closely, working with local authorities and to support the sector. This is something that they have raised with me, and I don’t want it to be a barrier to our delivery on this important programme for Government.
