CEY0959

Written evidence submitted by K2 Pre-School Academy

I write my response whilst I have sat pondering how I can best explain why we are having to raise our fees once again to an eye-watering number and how to explain to struggling families how early years has been let down by our government for decades. If Early years is being let down ergo so are children, parents and those working in the sector.

Parents are not encouraged to enter or remain in the workforce after having their first child. Parents with one or, God help them, two children under school age are actively being discouraged from working.

Currently childcare is not affordable. Early Years settings are becoming harder to find and, when a parent does find a setting with spaces available, these are either not flexible and/or parents run the risk of being told at the start of term, that due to the current recruitment crisis, there is no longer a space for their child or they are offered reduced hours/sessions.

Parents are confused by the funding and in most cases are not aware that, despite it being promoted to them as ‘free’ it does not cover the cost per hour. Hence agreeing to pay a consumables contribution is a requirement of being offered a place.

Securing an early years place has become elitist, if you cannot pay the ‘application fee’ (introduced by settings to boost funds), the deposit (sometimes up to 2 months of fees), the consumables contribution (introduced to ensure sustainability, plug the funding gap) there is no room at the already oversubscribed inn.

The scenario where a child joins an early years setting with two year funding and then is enticed away to join a school nursery who are targeting the universal funding, deprives early years of the sustained income until school age and interferes with the continuity of care and learning for the child.

The tax free childcare scheme is over complicated and isn’t reaching it’s target audience. There are reportedly vast sums of money which the Government had anticipated would be used through the scheme which is not finding it’s way to early years. Money which could, and should, be used to support the funding crisis.

Terminology :

Childcare : suggests that early years provision is a babysitting service and does not reflective the incredible learning and socialisation opportunities early years provides during the first five years of a child’s life.

Free : Never in the whole of the English language has there ever been a word so misleading and deceiving to a nation

Tax Free Childcare : Early years is inspected by OFSTED on the educational and statutory requirements of the early years foundation stage – Tax Free early years education would give the credibility that early years education deserves.

15/30 hours of funding is for children’s education or is 15/30 of funding for parents to access a babysitting service? 15/30 of funding is not supporting parents into work.

Where do the rights of the children fit into the 15/30 hours funding? There is an enormous amount of research into the rights of the child, not least the children’s act 1989, and research which supports the benefits of early socialisation and early education.

The disastrous recruitment issues facing early years is born out of societal views of early years education and ‘childcare’ being low pay, low value, lack of career opportunities, a career for stay-at-home-mums (childminders), lack of promotion as a career choice from schools and colleagues and qualification requirements changing.

There is now an increased workload with early years staff taking on the role of health visitor, social worker, family support worker, specialist in childhood illnesses and special educational needs, behaviour specialists, parent workshops, speech and language technicians, interpreters, form fillers, lead on referrals, administration specialist who interpret the funding options, financial analysts figuring out how to make the books balance, accountants, safeguarding officers, maintenance technicians, counsellors providing all manner of support to families. It is a multifunctional role requiring multitalented individuals.

The SEND referral and support system is broken and failing children and families who are coming through with ever increasing needs. Children are starting school without the necessary support which can be, and has been, identified by early years professionals. However, the barriers to accessing support in a timely manner prevents adequate intervention and the opportunities to make a difference to the early years experiences of both the child and their families.

Those barriers are:

• Lack of acknowledgment of early years practitioners as the professionals they are, qualified, experienced, and knowledgeable in child development and able to identify early on in a child’s life that additional support needs to be in place.
• Lengthy, cumbersome assessment requirements, with form filling both for those working with the child and the families (often who need supporting themselves).
• Finding the time and space for meetings with the families.
• Finding one-to-one and assessment time with the child.
• Lack of, or no funding for completing all the tasks required to apply for support funding.
• Insufficient funding to support the child and family to the extent required.
• Unable to release staff to attend training.
• Lack of space to work with children with high SEND needs away from group situations.
• Safety in group settings.

Funding for SEND needs improving, funding rates need to be properly accessed. There is an increased number of children entering early years who require additional support and those working within the sector are frustrated by how little they can offer them in terms of their time and resources; when a great deal can be achieved if it can be funded appropriately.

One way is for SEND funding to not only meet the expected future needs but to reflective the work already done to get the point of being accepted by the local authority i.e. there should be a lump sum payment for every successful application which reflects the work with children and families and assessment needs/hours that have already been put in to reach the point of funding being agreed.

Positive, high quality Early years experiences will be life changing for all children, but especially so for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and children with additional needs. High quality means highly motivated, highly skilled practitioners.

Schools are not ‘child-ready’ for the young children of today as children enter school not fully potty trained, only just having been approved for SEND support and families who have a sense of entitlement through the notion that they have a ‘right’ for their child to be ‘looked after’. And, in some cases, children and their parents barely being able to speak or have a grasp on the English language.

School entry is going to become even more challenging as families cannot find spaces in early years settings for their child to have the important early years experiences. Schools will be managing children who are leaving their parents for the first time and who have had no previous learning and socialisation experiences.

As above the reduction of Sure Start Children’s Centres has led to an increase in families who are seeking and who require additional support from their early years practitioners. Early years settings who provide the continuity of a support network for families are overwhelmed with the responsibilities of being a families only means of support during a child and families vital early years first experiences.

January 2023