Traditionally, we think about providing two sessions in a day, which could result in vacant time slots (especially at the start and end of a day) and a potential loss of income if three hours are taken instead of the five hours in a half-day session. To overcome this, some providers have created a day that contains three sessions of three hours. These have been identified by Leicester City Council in its good practice guide, 'Extended Flexible Nursery Education Entitlement'.
This new pattern has also appealed to providers in the area who have historically offered three sessions of two-and-a-half hours a day. In these settings, the extended entitlement has enabled them to have a consistent flow of sessions running back to back. Each of these sessions has associated funding or fee income, and many parents purchase additional childcare services. When a provider introduces such a delivery pattern, they find that many parents choose to continue to use Monday to Friday, and a significant proportion may choose to take their nursery education over three or four days.
Nurseries report that a three-day pattern is popular with parents who work 16 hours a week or who are in training. One provider delivering this model says they had experienced an increase in the number of children attending over the lunchtime period and as a result, they have had to employ lunchtime supervisors to carry out additional duties, which enables nursery staff to sit and interact with the children over the lunch period. Nurseries delivering the flexible offer also say that attendance has risen - an important finding and a lesson learned.
Providers may have concerns that offering a choice of flexible sessions could lead to empty places and reduced income. These issues can be overcome by using planners, parental contracts and admissions policies to clarify for parents what is available, what they need to do if circumstances change and what the provider will do to try to meet the changes.
Further information
James Hempsall is director of training and research provider Hempsall's (www.hempsallconsultancies.com)
