Almost 30 years ago, my chatty daughter started attending the local playgroup and told the leader that I was a Keep Fit teacher. Before I knew it, I was doing regular exercise classes there, then working every Monday, and eventually every day!
The playgroup thrived under an inspiring leader and wonderful staff team. There was a full register and long waiting list. The children started aged three and stayed until they were five - a whole two years.
We covered so much with them in that time. In the summer, they played in the little garden and in warm weather splashed in the paddling pools, with passers-by leaning over the fence to watch the fun - unthinkable nowadays, given all the concerns about health and safety and child protection.
There was no undue pressure on staff, just an annual visit from the local childcare person, to check all was well, and a termly visit from 'Nitty Norah' to check the children's heads - and ours!
We went on outings, with parents pitching in to help, had jumble sales, discos and the inevitable Nativity show at Christmas. None of this involved unnecessary paperwork or vetting, just parents volunteering their help. We didn't have to 'self-evaluate' ourselves - we knew our strengths and weaknesses without writing them down.
Then, 15 years ago, I took over the group when the leader moved away. All went well until local schools started opening their own nursery units. The children were taken from us far too soon, ill-equipped to cope with nursery life. Some 'brave' parents refused to send their children to school before they were ready, but numbers still fell.
After much soul-searching, I started taking children from two and a half years old. This change worked well initially, but soon the children were being moved ever earlier. Now we consider ourselves lucky if we keep them for a year.
The situation improved again when the Government introduced nursery funding for three- and four-year-olds, but now numbers have deteriorated so drastically that I have finally decided to close. For months we have been struggling financially, but I just couldn't bear to lose the playgroup, which has been so much part of my life. Imagine all the children, their siblings and indeed, even the children's children, who have passed through my hands.
I have been blessed with the most wonderful, dedicated and loyal team, who have become my extended family, and I have many stories to tell about the glorious mix of children that I like to think we have set on the road to a good future.
I have not agreed with many of the changes that have occurred over the years. I know life is different now, but I hark back to those early days, when our precious time was devoted to making the children happy, settled and sociable, rather than form-filling or following the latest policies and procedures.
I fear that playgroups will soon become a thing of the past. It will be a great loss - believe me, they are all doing a marvellous job and giving children a wonderful start in this difficult world. My best wishes to all of them!
Name and address supplied
UNREALISTIC EYFS
Having worked with the EYFS since last September, I have become increasingly disillusioned with the new curriculum.
It requires me to drive children's learning journeys down a road that complies with the EYFS goals, many of which are unrealistic and fail to allow for the celebration of the many amazing individual things that children achieve naturally. Compliance with the EYFS goals undermines the foundations children need to build a successful personal and academic future.
When will the Government wake up and listen to the professionals? Research shows that children achieve more when they start formal education later. The solution is simple. If we want children to achieve and prosper, they need to start formal schooling and education later. The Open EYE campaign drives home this message and has a great video that explains this issue brilliantly. Have a look by following the link http://openeyecampaign.wordpress.com/video/. This campaign deserves our full support.
Sally Quinton, Footsteps Pre-School, Bromham
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