The Government's move to extend free entitlement to nursery education to the most disadvantaged twoyear-olds creates challenges and opportunities for the early years sector.
With the economic climate threatening the sustainability of providers across the country, the prospect of a new market seems appealing. However, early years teams who have taken part in two-year-old pilot schemes say there are financial, workforce and logistical issues to consider.
While funding is increased for two-year-olds, twice the level of staffing is required to meet ratios. 'There is more money associated,' says Suzanne Pinkett, nursery business manager of Teresa Teddy Nursery in Blackpool. 'There also tends to be more complex needs associated with the children, in terms of settling them in and parental support. There are more meetings and follow-ups with referrals to other professionals, such as speech and language therapists.'
LOGISTICAL PROBLEMS
The national evaluation on the first wave of pilots showed that quality was paramount. The interim report on the Tower Hamlets pilot in London said, 'Early indications show that there has been a major boost to quality.'
However, it goes on to explain that 'while we have achieved these exciting results in terms of increased quality, we are faced by the national issue of a shortage of suitably trained staff to deliver this potentially excellent project, which is envisioned across every local authority in England'.
Through intensive work promoting quality improvements, the Tower Hamlets pilot is succeeding. The council is so committed to quality improvement that it plans to continue to provide additional funding to boost quality once the pilot finishes.
Coping with more vulnerable children can present logistical problems in allocating roles and maintaining rotas and ratios. For example, staff can be called to emergency meetings with social services. 'You need to appoint an experienced practitioner as the key person and ideally somebody who has SEN experience,' says Ms Pinkett.
There is extra paperwork, says Marie Privett, owner and headteacher of Butterflies Nursery School in Broadstairs, Kent. 'We have had outstanding Ofsted inspections twice running, but the local authority still sent someone to spend a morning going over everything we have gone over with Ofsted. I know some nurseries resent that and won't go through with it all.'
Creating the places for 260,000 two-year-olds by 2014/15 will involve building new provision and adapting settings which currently take threeand four-year-olds, as they will need nappy changing facilities and lower sinks, toilets and furniture for these younger children.
Creating separate space for the two year-olds is important, says Sarah Helm, head teacher of Old Church Nursery School, Tower Hamlets. 'They need to be able to explore and discover for themselves at their own pace. Some of the two-year-olds coming to us have no speech, have never been separated from mum before, and are not used to going out, and it would be very difficult to encourage their confidence if all the children were mixed in together. They can go into the main room, but if you are a two-year-old building a fantastic construction and a four-year-old rides a bike through it, you are not going to deal with that very well.'
Nurseries need to stock up on resources targeted at promoting learning and development in two-year-olds (see case study). 'Equipment is a major cost,' says Ms Privett. 'Things take a beating, get ripped or chewed or bits disappear without trace. They are on the go and need physical play, so we have a climbing frame in the two-year-olds room.'
'Two-year-olds like posting and stacking toys,' says Ms Helm. 'Some of them can't walk well, so they like things they can ride or push. We have invested in touchy-feelie books for children who are unfamiliar with books.'
Taking two-year-olds is an investment, says Ms Pinkett. 'We are attached to a school and our philosophy is to engage with these children as early as we can, but we recognise there is much more work involved. We see the work as early intervention. If we can put in this level of support early, hopefully the children will settle and go through school needing less support.
'However, if we were a private nursery I could understand people saying they would limit the numbers they took. From a purely business point of view it impacts on the bottom line but we don't have to take that view. At the same time, that does not mean we can pull resources out of thin air.'
Ms Privett adds, 'We lose about 20 children every year when they go to school, so it would be great to have more twos to stay on for their threeto four-year-old funding. We have had problems with parents not paying fees, but at least we get paid for the two-year-olds.'
CASE STUDY - BARKANTINE COMMUNITY NURSERY
On a daily basis, 52 children attend the nursery - 21 under-twos, 15 two-year-olds and 16 threeto fiveyear-olds. There are now 23 two-year-olds attending on a weekly basis; nine of them are on the pilot, says Sajida Malik, manager of the Barkantine Community Nursery in Tower Hamlets.
The setting did not have to make too many changes because the staff had worked hard to create enabling environments, in line with Elizabeth Jarman's communication-friendly spaces and the Reggio approach, discussed in Ms Malik's EYP dissertation.
'We worked incredibly hard to create enabling environments and to ensure the children had free flow and access to all the resources,' says Ms Malik. 'We bought natural resources - pine cones and conkers and everyday resources for heuristic play. It was not very expensive when you think of what you pay for plastic equipment. We got rid of a lot of plastic equipment. With two-year-olds there is a lot of wear and tear, so you have to replace things.
'Because we knew our number of two year-olds was increasing and our staff would not have time to record all the observations they would want to make in written form, we bought resources to support them - a laptop, a film camera and projector and a camera. These all enable the staff to record their observations using different media.
Parents love to see video clips or photos we can email or print out for them.
'It has made such a difference - a picture can say a thousand words, and it means we have more time to play with, and be with, the children.
'Two-year-olds are busy all the time. They are trying and testing and challenging themselves each day, so we needed equipment for physical play for them. We have a small roof terrace and bought some crates, ropes and tyres for the children to climb and balance and jump. We spent about £30 and some was donated courtesy of Tesco Home Delivery.
'We have big cosy sofas where we can read a book all together. Two-year-olds are on the go a lot of the time, but you need spaces and places for them to take a nap. We have mattresses and lovely baskets in which they can make nests and curl up.
'Our children stay with us until they go to school, unless the family moves away, so we think our two-year-olds will stay and access their threeto four-year-old funding.
'The children have home areas, but at times of the day they also enjoy free-flow across the whole setting. All the doors are open to the outdoors all the time.
'We get paid £6 an hour for the two-year-olds and £3.75 for the three-year-olds, but you need twice the staff. Our fee paying children act as a buffer and we offer the funded twoyear-olds our unfilled slots.
'There has been so much research and work done with babies and on brain development and there have been studies and projects on pre-school children. I think two-year-olds have been the neglected age group. Two year-olds cannot be pigeon-holed. They are unique and we have to work hard to meet each individual's needs. You have to have good strong practitioners to enjoy being with two year olds. But it is huge fun.'
