The report, The Regulatory Impact Assessment for Proposals to Extend Children Act Childcare Regulation to Schools, pointed out that although the educational provision for children under five was judged to be satisfactory or good in most independent schools, in some cases it was not, and the inspectors' findings also raised doubts about the standards of childcare provided for under-fives. This particularly applied to independent schools that were not subject to other quality assurance requirements, such as those for membership of organisations affiliated to the Independent Schools Council.
Concerns raised included inadequate staff:child ratios, overcrowded premises with insufficient space for play, no area for sleeping babies, a complete lack of criminal records checks on staff, and rooms for very young children with no access to toilets or running water. Under current arrangements such poor-quality provision might only be picked up during school or nursery education inspections, which could be as infrequent as every six years.
The report said, 'There is also evidence that unscrupulous nursery providers are deliberately setting up as independent schools to avoid having to meet Children Act registration requirements and standards. It is known that several independent schools started as private nursery schools, and recruited a small number of compulsory school-age children only when they had run into difficulties with their local authority Children Act inspections.'
The DfES has estimated that from this September about 250 independent schools will be required to register their childcare provision. This is the number currently catering for under-twos. From September 2004, when independent schools would be required to register childcare provision for children aged two upwards, this would rise to approximately 475 - equivalent to just over one-fifth of the 2,200 independent schools currently operating.
