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This week

1. Did you know
2. Website of the Week
3. Under5s Download Centre
4. Date for your Diary
5. News
6. International News 
7. More Educational Sites
 

1. DID YOU KNOW

NDNA MEMBER NURSERY OPENS ITS DOORS JUST ONE WEEK AFTER SUSPECTED ARSON
 ATTACK

NDNA supports member nursery devasted by recent arson attack 
 

National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has announced that a member  nursery, Brooklyn Day Nursery in Annesley, Nottingham has re-opened the doors to its pre-school children just one week after a devastating
 suspected arson attack. 

With the support of parents, Ofsted, local businesses and organisations  including NDNA and its corporate partner Hope Education, owner Sue Dursley has transformed her living accommodation at the nursery into a new
pre-school unit. On 6 April the pre-school unit, located on a mobile building on the nursery site, was burnt down in a suspected arson attack with children’s possessions, work, toys and equipment completely lost.
 
Since then Sue along with her family and parents have worked around the clock to turn the top floor of the nursery from a family home into a pre-school unit. The local community has rallied round, with businesses donating shelves, paint, furniture, vouchers for toys and cost-price floor coverings. The local library has provided a range of books and local shops also sent clothes and toys for activities. NDNA’s corporate partner Hope Education has donated a range of nursery equipment and a £150 voucher so that the nursery can also purchase some new items for
children to enjoy.

Sue Dursley, owner of Brooklyn Day Nursery says: “I would like to give our heartfelt thanks to all who have supported us. It has been unbelievable and we really could not have done it without everyone who has given up time, help and even products to get us back open.”
 

Purnima Tanuku, Chief Executive of NDNA adds: “This has been a terrible event, but we are delighted to hear that everyone has pulled together to re-open provision in this unbelievable timescale. We are pleased to be able to offer our members support during difficult times and we look forward to hearing how the nursery progresses.” 

Jodie McHale at Hope Education comments: “We were shocked to hear what had happened at Brooklyn Day Nursery and hope that the items we have donated help the nursery get back to normal. It is great news that they
 have managed to re-open their doors quickly with the support of so many.” 

 
SURE START: EVERY BUILDING MATTERS

In the last 10 years the Sure Start programme has transformed the delivery of integrated services and quality early learning to children and their families. Children’s centres are crucial to the government’s 10 year strategy for
childcare, Choice for parents, the best start for children, and are key to improving outcomes for children as part of the Every child matters agenda. By 2010 there will be 3,500 children’s centres, one in every community. We want centres to be accessible, welcoming, flexible, inspirational spaces.

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) is the government’s advisor on architecture urban design and public space. CABE has worked in partnership with the former DfES and now DCSF since
Sure Start’s inception. By providing advice guidance to partners involved in the delivery of children’s centres, CABE promotes good design, helping children’s centres to become the focus of the community.

This guide has been created with CABE for the next phase of delivery. Drawing on the lessons that local authorities and other key partners have learned and highlighting the importance of quality design, the guide focuses on both the preparation for, and the design of, a children’s centre and other early years facilities.

This publication is only available as PDF.

http://www.cabe.org.uk/AssetLibrary/11357.pdf
 

2. WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

NATURE GRID

Excellent for the topic of Spring, learn about animals and minibeasts.

http://www.naturegrid.org.uk/grassland/index.html
 
 
 

3. UNDER5S DOWNLOAD CENTRE

DON'T FORGET - you can find 24 different plans in the Download Centre and  all of our planning is available to download today. 

Don't miss the fantastic Let's Sign signing resources. 

Childminders - if you are struggling with Birth to Three, take a look at the Birth to Three Planning Guidance. 

http://cnb-host4.clickandbuild.com/cnb/shop/under5s?op=catalogue-categories-null

EARLY LEARNING FORUMS 

Join Us ! 

To discuss early years issues. To find support and advice on early years education. To relax and chat amongst friends. Come on in and have a look... 

http://www.earlylearningforums.co.uk 
 
 

National Breastfeeding Awareness Week,

11 – 17 May 2008

The Department of Health has developed a range of resources to help Children’s Centres to support the week. The resources include pens, key rings, lanyards, diary covers, post-it notes and fridge magnets, and will be available free of charge to Children’s Centres by ordering from Prolog on 08701 555 455 or online from the NHS breastfeeding website.
 

Http://www.breastfeeding.nhs.uk/
 
 

5. NEWS

PARENTS’ CHILDCARE PREFERENCES NOT BEING MET

LEADING THINKTANK PROPOSES UNIVERSAL CHILDCARE ALLOWANCE

Parents in Britain still pay 70 per cent of their childcare costs compared to the European average of 30 per cent. This is in spite of a decade of intensive reform and total spending of £17 billion from 1997 to 2006 on services for young children. Nevertheless, according to ‘Little Britons’, a comprehensive new report into childcare choice for the leading thinktank Policy Exchange, parents’ preferences for childcare are not being met by the options currently available. The Government’s basic aim has been to encourage as many mothers as possible into paid work – and for children to be placed in formal childcare settings – but women would actually prefer, in many cases, for their children to be cared for in their own homes, the report concludes.

‘Little Britons’, compiled with the assistance of Dr Catherine Hakim of the LSE, critically analyses existing research on parental preferences for childcare, assesses the current childcare market through the Sure Start policy package and determines what families currently receive in terms of financial support through the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit (WTC) before making radical, costed suggestions for reform of childcare provision in Britain to enable parents to exercise meaningful choice.

Parental preferences Surveys on parents views towards childcare commissioned by the Government over the last few decades show huge diversity in perspectives on family life, childcare and policy options. The survey reports fail to acknowledge these complexities in full and fail to underline the three key findings: informal care is still used far more often and more widely than formal care; the majority of parents (59 per cent) still never use formal care at all for children aged 0-14 years; and parents who refuse to use formal childcare have strong preferences for parental care. Users of formal childcare remain a minority, and there are no important differences between lone parents and couple families.
 

Other studies have further emphasized the desire for childcare in the home in a child’s very early years. A study in 2005 showed that childcare preferences at a child’s first birthday overwhelmingly favoured family care over nursery care. By the time of the child’s third birthday, childcare preferences had changed, with around 40 per cent favouring nurseries. Nonetheless, the clear majority still favours, and uses, family-based care over centre-based care, and individual care over collective care. Working mothers chose childminders and nannies almost as often as nurseries when parental care was not an option.

Dr Catherine Hakim said: “Numerous studies into parental preferences regarding childcare have revealed a much greater diversity of parental preferences than the Government would like to believe. One recent study from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) showed that, in an ideal world, only one-third of mothers in Britain would use any childcare at all before their child’s third birthday”.

Sure Start has been changed so often in its short life that people are uncertain what its purpose is. There is a general perception that it exists to provide centre-based daycare but many Sure Start Children’s Centres do not actually provide childcare. Sure Start’s latest goal of a national network of Children’s Centres offering integrated services for children is laudable, but the report’s authors are sceptical as to whether such ambitions will be adequately funded. Poorly subsidised State provision is likely to damage the market as a whole, they conclude.

The childcare element of the Working Tax Credit (WTC) As of December 2007, £1.4 billion annually was being distributed through the childcare element of the WTC. The underlying policy aim of linking tax credits to childcare is to encourage lone mothers back into work as a way of addressing child poverty. But fewer than 1 in 4 (223,800 out of 1,000,000+ in 2005) eligible single parents claim this tax credit. Take up of the electronic vouchers which allow parents to save tax and National Insurance contributions is even lower (1 in 50) because few employers operate the scheme.

Natalie Evans, Head of Research at Policy Exchange, commented: “Eligibility is the key problem with the Working Tax Credit. The work requirements are restrictive and families must use formal Ofsted-registered care, which limits parental choice. The income cut-offs are very low because the tax credit is largely designed to assist lone parents but only a small proportion actually claim it.”

Based on Policy Exchange’s analysis of what individual families currently receive, a low income couple working full-time receives only 13 per cent of their childcare costs per year for their child under two.
Meanwhile, Policy Exchange’s research has found that a low income couple with one parent working part-time (and therefore requiring fewer hours of childcare) receives 55 per cent of their costs. An average income lone parent receives 40 per cent of his/her costs.

Proposals for reform ‘Little Britons’ proposes that funding support for childcare should follow the child and not be linked to childcare institutions or to parents’ work so that those parents who prefer informal care, such as relatives or childminders, or to look after their babies and toddlers themselves, are also supported.

The proposal requires scrapping the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit, the electronic vouchers and the one-off Sure Start Maternity Grant and providing instead a universal Parental Care Allowance (PCA) to parents caring with children of 0-3 years.

• £50-60 per week paid direct to all parents with children of 0-3. This is in line with parental care allowances in other European countries at around 15-20 per cent of GDP per capita and is equivalent to around 40 per cent of average income from the average part-time job.

• Payable from birth or after maternity pay has ceased until the child starts to use early years services in the first term after the third birthday. Those receiving a maternity package are already financially supported and the PCA should not commence until that support ceases, either through returning to work or electing to stay at home to look after the child. All 3 year olds are eligible for Early Years Entitlement which, with a target of 20 hours per week, provides childcare as well as educational development.

• Not tapered, meaning that the same amount is paid to each child no matter how many children are in the family. Tapering adds complexity.

• Not taxed. Taxing the PCA might act as a deterrent to work for low income families.

• Administered through Child Benefit. At £55, this payment, in addition to child benefit, would mean a weekly, universal, non-taxed cash payment for children under 3 of £73.80.

Dr Catherine Hakim again: “The proposal would be simple to administer, get into the right hands, allow parents to choose from a variety of childcare options (including staying at home), and provide carers with supplemental income if they give up work. Sure Start would still have a role, providing information and support for parenting, especially for the neediest parents.”

How to pay for it Assuming 100 per cent take-up of the new PCA, this is a £5.4 billion proposal if it is untaxed (£4.1 billion if it is taxed). This is significantly more than is currently paid out through the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit, the electronic vouchers and Sure Start Maternity Grant. The authors of the report believe these schemes, combined with savings on administration costs, more use of private and voluntary day nurseries, tapering away the family element of the Child Tax Credit and reassessing Child Benefit for 16-18 year-olds, would meet the vast bulk of the costs of the universal scheme they propose.
However, if government increased spending on children to 1.5 per cent of GDP, in line with Scandinavian countries, it could easily cover the cost of this policy recommendation.

Natalie Evans summarized the report’s analysis and recommendations: “The present arrangements for childcare in the UK are not flexible enough to meet the needs of today’s varied family structures and working hours. Rather than funding institutions, money should follow children.
British parents, like those in France and Scandinavia, need more childcare choice. A simple, across-the-board childcare payment through the Child Benefit system is the way forward. It allows women who want to work to do so, and gives women the option to stay at home if that is what they believe is in their child’s best interests at the start of their life.”

Read the full report at
http://policyexchange.org.uk/images/libimages/376.pdf

Read the summary at
http://policyexchange.org.uk/images/libimages/375.pdf
 
 

DAYCARE TRUST RESPONSE TO POLICY EXCHANGE REPORT

Daycare Trust welcomes the principle of a Parental Care Allowance, the keynote feature of Little Britons: financing childcare choice, published today by the Policy Exchange think-tank. But the national childcare charity is opposed to the proposal that the large some of money involved
• at least £4 billion – would be raised by cuts in other vital services for children and families.

“Daycare Trust has for some time advocated a very similar policy, offering financial support to parents of under-twos. Our plans would also apply whether or not parents worked.”

“The key difference is that our proposal would be paid for with new money,” says Joint-Chief Executive Emma Knights.

“The Policy Exchange proposals are to be paid for by scrapping the childcare element of Working Tax Credit, employer-supported childcare, the Sure Start maternity grant and other payments aimed at helping the poorest parents, and this would not be a price worth paying.”

Of profound concern to the charity are hints in the report that in future the PCA could become the main source of pre-school funding, possibly replacing the current free nursery places for three- and four-year-olds.

“The free nursery places for three- and four-year-olds are a huge success, popular with parents and delivering real benefits for children. For the first time, the Early Years Entitlement is giving all children the right to something that wealthy families have long valued – a high-quality nursery education."

Daycare Trust is calling for parental leave to be extended to 12 months, with an additional year where parents are financially supported either with the cost of childcare or with an income top-up if they choose to stay at home.

“We think that this would reduce pressure on parents in the crucial first two years of a child’s life, allowing them to retain their employment rights and return to work when they think the time is right. They would receive the money whether or not, and for however many hours, they chose to work. But we are calling for this as an addition to, not a replacement of, other forms of support for childcare, particularly those aimed at reducing child poverty.”

Daycare Trust also believes strongly that public money should only be used to subsidise “formal” childcare where parents can be assured that quality and safety are monitored.
One of the main sources of funding for the Parental Care Allowance identified by Policy Exchange is the Childcare Element of Working Tax Credit. Daycare Trust is particularly concerned that scrapping this childcare element would hit poor parents of older children, and particularly lone parents.

“Parents’ need for childcare sometimes actually increases as children get older, because more of them choose to work when children are at school. The childcare element is not the simplest benefit to claim, but it does provide targeted support which is especially helpful to lone parents, who are most likely to fall within the income threshold.”

“The costs of out-of-school and holiday childcare are rising more steeply than those of any other form of childcare. The Policy Exchange proposals may have an ironic consequence; parents who stay at home in their children’s early years may find that without this source of support they are trapped indefinitely on benefits, or forced to rely on inadequate childcare arrangements.”
 

PRIVATE SETTINGS FACE THE TRUE COST OF FREE SESSIONS

Funding rises but still falls short for most providers

Funding for the provision of the free early years entitlement has risen above inflation, but will still fall far short of the true cost of providing a place, placing the future of many private nurseries in jeopardy.

Figures due to be published next month will show that 62% of nurseries believe that the money they receive to provide 12.5 hours of free childcare per week will not cover the cost of that provision, underlining widespread doubts within the childcare sector over the long-term sustainability of private settings.
Commenting on the issue, senior economist Philip Blackburn told NCMN: ‘The pressures of underfunding from local authorities are building up within the daycare nursery sector, and crunch time, when losses can’t be sustained any longer, is unlikely to be far away for many nurseries.’

This story is printed in full in the April issue of the new look Nursery and Childcare Market News.

Also covered:
• Childcare workforce in need of diversity
• Low pay and status undermines sector development • Integrated working progress examined
• Early Years Foundation Stage under the microscope

Visit the website: www.nurseryandchildcaremarketnews.co.uk
 
 

6. INTERNATIONAL NEWS

USA

WASHINGTON’S FIRST “THRIVE COMMUNITY” SET TO PROVIDE EARLY LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHILDREN BIRTH TO 5

White Center Early Learning Initiative Kicks Off with $11.7 Million in Funding for Services and Capital

A first-of-its-kind community partnership will significantly expand early learning opportunities to children from birth to 5 in the south King County neighborhood of White Center. Funded by two grants—$4.7 million from Thrive by Five Washington and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for expanded early learning options for families with young children, and $7 million from the Gates Foundation for the construction of an early learning community center—the White Center Early Learning Initiative will provide parents and caregivers with education and support to help ensure that all children in the community begin school ready to succeed.

White Center and Yakima County are two communities selected more than a year ago to design comprehensive early learning networks for children
ages birth to 5. Plans for Yakima will be announced later this spring.
Created in 2006,  Thrive by Five Washington is a champion for early learning improvement and is funded by a diverse group of public, private, and philanthropic partners.

“One of my priorities is to help ensure that children get the support they need to succeed in school and in life,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire, co-chair of the Thrive by Five Washington board of directors. “This innovative partnership is helping to make best practices in early learning a reality.”

The White Center Early Learning Initiative has spent more than 18 months convening local stakeholder groups and developing business plans to make positive early learning opportunities— whether at home or in child care centers—available to families in their community. These grants will fund the first phase of those plans beginning in 2008. Funding will be jointly administered by the Puget Sound Educational Service District, Child Care Resources of King County, and PublicHealth – Seattle & King County.

“I wa nt to commend the hard work and dedication exhibited by the White Center community,” said Graciela Italiano-Thomas, president and CEO of the public-private partnership Thrive by Five Washington. “The partnership between the community, public agencies, and private caregivers will be critical to meeting the unique needs of families in White Center and sustaining this groundbreaking model. Your efforts will enrich the lives of thousands of children and prepare them for success in school and life.”

Funding for services will support the development of a continuum of programs aimed at children from birth to 5, their parents, and caregivers, including: outreach services to pregnant and postpartum women through the Community Doula program, which pairs new mothers with trained women who provide emotional support and guidance; nurse home visitation for expectant families through their children’s first years; play and learn groups for toddlers; and literacy resources for parents. Existing Head Start centers will receive grants to improve teacher qualifications and program quality. In addition, grant funds will enhance the learning environments of licensed child care centers, preschools, and family child care homes in the White Center and Boulevard Park neighborhoods through professional development for staff and a quality rating and improvement
system that will make better information available to parents.

“Providing engaging, positive early learning environments for young children is one of the smartest investments we can make in the future,” said Bill Gates Sr., co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Thrive by Five Washington board of directors. “We will be watching the White Center community as they show us what is possible when we help all children thrive.”

The planned Greenbridge Early Learning Center will serve as a headquarters for education and outreach services in the community. Funds for construction will come from Thrive by Five, federal tax credits, and other public and private sources, including $2 million in state support proposed by Gov. Gregoire. Based on the Educare model first developed in Chicago, the center will include space for parenting classes and preschool programs taught by credentialed instructors.

Construction on the Greenbridge Early Learning Center is expected to begin in mid-2008. Located in unincorporated south King County between West Seattle and Burien, White Center is one of the most diverse communities in the state with 32,000 residents who collectively speak more than 70 languages. With an active network of civic and cultural organizations, the White Center community has strong social capital, yet one in five children below the age of 5 lives in poverty. In addition, just 17.2 percent of fourth grade students at White Center Heights Elementary passed all three sections of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) in 2007.

The White Center Early Learning Initiative marks the next step in Thrive by Five Washington’s efforts to improve the state’s early learning infrastructure. Today, as many as half of kindergarteners in the state begin school without the basic skills they need, such as the ability to recognize shapes and colors. Researchers have found that gaps present at kindergarten grow wider as children advance and that kids who start out behind often stay behind. According to a 2006 survey by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University, Washington state ranks 28th in the nation in the percentage of 4-year-olds who have access to preschool.
 
 

7. MORE EDUCATIONAL SITES 

For more educational sites visit 

Sites for Teachers 

http://www.sitesforteachers.com/perl/rankem.pcgi?id=under5s
 

Kind regards 
 

The Under5s Team 
Http://www.under5s.co.uk