From the 1,146 people surveyed, of those using childcare, 60 per cent described their childcare as excellent, 35 per cent said it was good and five per cent said it was average. None of the respondents judged their childcare to be poor.
The survey was conducted by Bounty – the parenting club – on behalf of the Pre-School Learning Alliance.
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Alliance, said, ‘At a time when the sector is being criticised by the childcare minister for "breeding a generation of unruly toddlers", it’s good to learn that parents have strongly rejected her perception of childcare in England.’
‘Ofsted rates only 73 per cent of provision in England as good or outstanding and last month it said it wants to replace the satisfactory rating with requires improvement in order to "improve the quality of early years provision". Yet parents are overwhelmingly positive about the service they’re receiving.’
The Bounty ‘Word of Mum’ survey was carried out in March 2013 among women in the early stages of pregnancy through to mothers whose youngest child was aged five.
In a different poll posted on Bounty’s Facebook page, 98 per cent of respondents said that they were against Government proposals to change childcare ratios while the remaining two per cent were undecided.
More than 80 per cent said they would not support lower staff-to-child ratios even when faced with trading quality for cheaper childcare.
Mr Leitch said, ‘Yet again parents using childcare have sent a clear message that they do not want their children to be in provision where ratios are relaxed, even if that will save the money on their childcare costs. Quality matters to parents as the thousands who have signed our Rewind on Ratios petition have demonstrated.’
More than 28,000 parents have now signed the Alliance’s Rewind on Ratios petition against the proposed childcare changes.
- To sign the rewind ratios survey visit: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/45887
