hours for threeand four-year-olds, a new survey reveals that providers
are uncertain about their future.
According to the PACEY workforce survey, despite childcare providers feeling motivated by the work they do, many are on the verge of making decisions about whether their businesses will be viable in 12 months' time and if they want to remain in the childcare sector.
PACEY warns in its survey report, Building Blocks, that the findings pose a major threat to delivering the Government's plans to increase the number of funded hours for threeand four-year-olds, as well as providing high-quality education for disadvantaged children.
A total of 2,442 people across England responded to the survey. Of these, 2,157 were 'home-based providers', including childminders (2,068), childminding assistants and nannies, and 285 'group providers', including nursery and pre-school practitioners and managers.
About 69 per cent of home-based providers said they had no plans to expand their business in the next year, compared to 59 per cent of group providers.
A fifth of childminders and nannies, and 16 per cent of nursery and pre-school practitioners and managers were unsure whether they would still be working in childcare in 12 months' time.
Survey responses suggested a close link between providers' plans for growth and their level of confidence about the future. The more confident they were, the more likely they were to expand their business and vice versa.
Just over a quarter of all providers said they felt less or much less confident about their future business than 12 months ago.
Those that took part in the survey were also asked for their views on funding systems, regulation and inspections, workforce strategy and partnership working, areas that PACEY believes are key for a sustainable and effective early years sector.
Partnership working
While the survey reveals growing partnerships between childcare providers, schools and health professionals, it found the quality of these relationships varies.
Some 70 per cent of group settings are working with schools, compared to 42 per cent of home-based providers.
Survey respondents reported a mixed response from schools to partnerships. Group providers were more likely to be positive about a school's willingness to work with them, but one fifth of group and home-based providers felt the schools they approached showed unwillingness.
Of those not that were not currently working with schools but that had approached them about working together in the past 12 months, 42 per cent of home-based providers rated the schools' response as 'negative' or 'very negative', compared to 23 per cent of group providers.
Georgina Jones, an 'outstanding' childminder from Farnborough, has built a successful partnership with the two local schools the children in her care attend.
Ms Jones, who cares for six children at a time, says it was very easy starting a relationship with the schools, where she drops off and picks up the children.
She said, 'I have permission from parents for teachers or the head to discuss the children in my care with me, whether about their behaviour, or if they have had any accidents or received praise. This allows joined-up working.
'At my setting, we also do activities that support children's learning at school. For instance, if they are studying Shakespeare we will go to the library and get books on the playwright.
'I also attend cake sales and fairs at the school with the children and remind parents of school events such as sports day.'
Overall, providers reported a more positive experience of approaching health professionals than schools, with a third of respondents saying that health professionals were 'fully' willing to work with them.
Of those that took part in the survey, 70 per cent of group providers and 13 per cent of childminders and nannies are working with health professionals.
In light of the findings, PACEY is calling for the introduction of a 'clear' framework for interaction between professionals for individual children. It also wants the Department of Health and Department for Education to work to dispel misconceptions about childcare provision among school and health professionals. This includes highlighting the benefit of partnership working in delivering the integrated review.
Workforce strategy
The survey reveals that childcare providers are highly motivated to develop their skills, but rising costs of training, lack of availability and flexibility, and a reduction in local authority support poses a risk to their professional development.
PACEY has also raised concerns that GCSE requirements for Level 3 early years qualifications will act as a barrier. It claims that some training providers have already reported an 80 per cent fall in new applicants for some courses.
Just under half (44 per cent) of group providers that had received their last qualification over two years ago said that the expense was the main reason why they were not studying now.
According to PACEY, the cost of Level 3 courses has risen hugely in the past three years to £1,900 currently.
Cost was also a barrier for practitioners undertaking continuing professional development (CPD) courses to enhance their specialist knowledge.
Despite this, the survey suggests the sector is becoming better qualified. Over three-quarters of the home-based (78 per cent) and group providers (84 per cent) that responded hold at least a Level 3 qualification.
More than a quarter (26 per cent) of group providers and 15 per cent of childminders have a Level 6 qualification or higher.
The biggest benefit of further qualifications cited by both group and home-based providers was improved confidence.
To make CPD accessible to the childcare and early years workforce, PACEY recommends the Government:
- sets an appropriate level for the free entitlement funding so businesses can invest in development and training for their staff;
- works with the sector to map out a CPD pathway to support childcare practitioners to progress;
- takes up Cathy Nutbrown's recommendations to improve the quality of teaching and placements, improve course content and open clear channels through which registered childcarers could attain Qualified Teacher Status;
- reviews the impact the GCSE entry requirement is having on new entrants to childcare qualification courses.
Parents
The survey was also open to parents, and 180 responded.
Nearly a third (32 per cent) said they rely on their childcare provider as a source of information about childcare, rather than looking on the gov.uk website, or contacting their local authority or family information service.
However, a quarter of providers reported not feeling confident in explaining what the new baseline testing at Reception means, while 23 per cent were unsure about the changes to the SEND system.
Liz Bayram, chief executive of PACEY, said, 'The fact that many providers are unsure about their future business or whether they will remain in childcare reinforces what we have seen in the past. We knew the sector was unsettled as it has been a rocky year for all professionals, particularly childminders with the introduction of childminder agencies. However, the scale of people's uncertainty about the future is shocking. A lot needs to be done to build up confidence within the sector and for the power of professional development to be recognised.
'There is no clear workforce strategy and this needs to be addressed by the Government as it is key to a sustainable sector.
'The survey also shows there are real barriers to partnership working, which is vital for the delivery of the integrated review. There needs to be a focus on enabling partnership working. Schools are definitely getting better, but more needs to be done, particularly as parents who are eligible for the 30 hours of free childcare, when introduced in 2017, will likely use a mix of provision.'
She added, 'The Government expects more high-quality provision, but has to come up with more support for the sector.'
Respondents' comments
On inspection and regulation....
'I would like Ofsted to be more transparent as to its requirements. No more guessing to what the inspectorate is looking for please. Standards should be standard across the board; there is too much variation at the moment.'
'Please acknowledge the domestic setting - we are not the same as nurseries and can be professional but offer a unique family-based setting. This never seems to be either acknowledged or valued by external agencies or the EYFS, but is actually the reason parents choose us.'
On partnership working....
'It is hard to get the schools to work in partnership with me. They are reluctant to share information and regularly refer to me as the babysitter.' (A home-based provider).
