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The International Nanny Association has adopted a Code of Conduct to promote professionalism and ethical practices among nannies, educators, and those who employ and place in-home child care specialists. By virtue of their membership in the International Nanny Association, members agree to abide by this Code of Conduct and to support quality in-home child care for the world’s most valuable resources— our children.
Responsibilities to the Child A Sitter shall:
• Respect each child as a human being and never knowingly participate in any practice that is disrespectful, dangerous, exploitive, intimidating, or psychologically or physically harmful.
• Maintain a safe and healthy atmosphere that encourages optimum social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development of children.
• Provide various learning opportunities through which a child can explore and utilize his or her continued personal growth and development.
• Recognize the unique potential of each child, encourage questions, and present answers that children can understand.
• Keep abreast of current activity in the areas of childhood development through continued education, either formally or informally.
• Work toward promoting knowledge and understanding of young children and their needs and act as an advocate for children’s rights.
• Be familiar with the signs of child abuse and neglect and be knowledgeable of procedures for dealing with them.
Working As Nanny
The television viewing audience has become far better acquainted recently with the profession of nanny through watching real-life nannies turn around families with poorly behaved children in just a week. It’s rather like seeing the “practically perfect” Mary Poppins in action. While TV nannies have brought attention to this profession, it is definitely not a new one. The original nannies were trained in England at the Norland Institute. On the job, they wore starched brown uniforms with white aprons, little brown hats, and sensible, sturdy shoes. Much has changed since then. Today’s nannies receive their formal training in community and nanny colleges and dress casually for work in jeans and sneakers. While Mary Poppins, the well-known fictional nanny, flew through the air with the Banks children, nannies are now found skateboarding with their charges.
OWNERSHIP OF CHILD CARE CENTERS
While all child care centers are organized to care for young children, there is diversity in the ownership of these centers. Most centers in the United States are operated by nonprofit organizations. In Canada, it is the same story, with 80 percent of the child care centers operated on a not-for-profit basis— usually by community-based or parent organizations. Although people hear a lot about national child care chains, most of the for-profit child care centers are locally owned. The ownership composition of child care centers in the United States is shown in Figure 3.1.
There are advantages in having so many different types of child care centers. Not only do parents have a choice, but child care workers also can choose the work environment that is most appealing to them.
There are advantages in having so many different types of child care centers. Not only do parents have a choice, but child care workers also can choose the work environment that is most appealing to them.
CHILD CARE WORKERS ARE NEEDED
About 50 million women of the close to 120 million women age sixteen years and older in the workforce in the United States today are working mothers. The U.S. labor force has experienced a revolution with the entry of working mothers in dramatic numbers. As recently as 1975, only onethird of women with children worked outside the home. Now, approximately 70 percent of all mothers work in this country. It’s a similar story in Canada, where about 66 percent of all women with children under the age of three work, and about 75 percent of those whose youngest child is age three to five work. The major impact of this change in the workforce is the overwhelming demand that now exists for child care workers.
As the children of working mothers move through school, there will be a need for more child care workers for supervision of beforeand after-school activities and during vacations and holidays from school. More workers are also needed because of the very high turnover rate among child care workers. Approximately one-third of all child care workers leave this profession each year. The National Women’s Law Center attributes this to the fact that child care workers are among the lowest-paid workers in the United States, with wages only slightly above the poverty threshold. This is also true in Canada, where many workers earn local minimum wages. These very important caregivers in both countries actually earn less than many pet sitters.
MANY CHOICES FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN As the number of working mothers has increased, a need for a variety of child care arrangements has emerged. This, of course, has created many career choices that center on the care of children. Although approximately 20 percent of all families in the United States and 40 percent in Canada rely on relatives for satisfactory child care arrangements, the rest must look for help beyond their immediate family circle. The two most popular choices are child care centers and family child care homes. This chapter explores the different types of child care centers and the job opportunities they offer.
Careers in family child care homes will be investigated in Chapter 4.
HISTORY OF CHILD CARE CENTERS Before the Industrial Revolution, children were typically cared for in their homes by their families or by caregivers hired to assist family members. In the mid-1700s, factories sprouted up all over England and Scotland, and large numbers of women left their homes to work in them. This change was due largely to the invention of two machines, the spinning jenny and the water frame, which took the manufacture of textiles out of homes and into factories. Women were not able to leave their young children at home nor have the children at their sides in the factories while they were working. To solve this problem, factory owners established rooms for their workers’ children and hired untrained adults, boys, and girls to supervise the children.
These were the first child care centers. The establishment of child care centers in the United States occurred almost a hundred years later, when manufacturing became a major industry and women first joined the workforce.
Besides pioneering child care centers, Great Britain also introduced nursery schools a short time later to improve upon the care children were receiving at factory child care facilities. Robert Owen, a mill owner and social reformer, set up the first program to teach and supervise the children of factory workers and hired people with some teaching qualifications.
During World War II, women were needed to work in the factories. The U.S. government responded by passing the Lanham Act, which provided funds to set up child care centers in defense plants. At the end of the war, these centers were shut down, and many women left the workforce. In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, women began returning to the workforce and the need for child care centers grew. Today, there are more than a hundred thousand centers serving young children.
In the mid-1960s, the federal government began to play a more prominent role in the care and development of young children. The Head Start program was launched to help prepare the children of poor families for school. Activities were designed to stimulate the social, emotional, mental, and physical growth of young children. Many parents of children in this program work in centers as aides or as volunteers. The Head Start program continues today. Also, the federal government began to provide some child care services for mothers receiving welfare payments who were enrolled in job training programs.
Many proposals for federally sponsored child care programs have been introduced since the 1960s in the United States and Canada. A comprehensive proposal, the Child Development Act, was passed in the U.S. Congress in 1971 but was vetoed by President Nixon. This legislation would have expanded Head Start and provided preschool education for all children who needed this help before enrolling in school. Every year child care bills are introduced in Congress; however, no comprehensive national child care plan has yet emerged. Some states have begun to offer prekindergarten programs for four-year-olds in their most disadvantaged school districts. And others are considering legislation requiring all schools to offer programs for threeand four-year-olds. A wide variety of child care programs 25 Working in Child Care Centers
As the children of working mothers move through school, there will be a need for more child care workers for supervision of beforeand after-school activities and during vacations and holidays from school. More workers are also needed because of the very high turnover rate among child care workers. Approximately one-third of all child care workers leave this profession each year. The National Women’s Law Center attributes this to the fact that child care workers are among the lowest-paid workers in the United States, with wages only slightly above the poverty threshold. This is also true in Canada, where many workers earn local minimum wages. These very important caregivers in both countries actually earn less than many pet sitters.
MANY CHOICES FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN As the number of working mothers has increased, a need for a variety of child care arrangements has emerged. This, of course, has created many career choices that center on the care of children. Although approximately 20 percent of all families in the United States and 40 percent in Canada rely on relatives for satisfactory child care arrangements, the rest must look for help beyond their immediate family circle. The two most popular choices are child care centers and family child care homes. This chapter explores the different types of child care centers and the job opportunities they offer.
Careers in family child care homes will be investigated in Chapter 4.
HISTORY OF CHILD CARE CENTERS Before the Industrial Revolution, children were typically cared for in their homes by their families or by caregivers hired to assist family members. In the mid-1700s, factories sprouted up all over England and Scotland, and large numbers of women left their homes to work in them. This change was due largely to the invention of two machines, the spinning jenny and the water frame, which took the manufacture of textiles out of homes and into factories. Women were not able to leave their young children at home nor have the children at their sides in the factories while they were working. To solve this problem, factory owners established rooms for their workers’ children and hired untrained adults, boys, and girls to supervise the children.
These were the first child care centers. The establishment of child care centers in the United States occurred almost a hundred years later, when manufacturing became a major industry and women first joined the workforce.
Besides pioneering child care centers, Great Britain also introduced nursery schools a short time later to improve upon the care children were receiving at factory child care facilities. Robert Owen, a mill owner and social reformer, set up the first program to teach and supervise the children of factory workers and hired people with some teaching qualifications.
During World War II, women were needed to work in the factories. The U.S. government responded by passing the Lanham Act, which provided funds to set up child care centers in defense plants. At the end of the war, these centers were shut down, and many women left the workforce. In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, women began returning to the workforce and the need for child care centers grew. Today, there are more than a hundred thousand centers serving young children.
In the mid-1960s, the federal government began to play a more prominent role in the care and development of young children. The Head Start program was launched to help prepare the children of poor families for school. Activities were designed to stimulate the social, emotional, mental, and physical growth of young children. Many parents of children in this program work in centers as aides or as volunteers. The Head Start program continues today. Also, the federal government began to provide some child care services for mothers receiving welfare payments who were enrolled in job training programs.
Many proposals for federally sponsored child care programs have been introduced since the 1960s in the United States and Canada. A comprehensive proposal, the Child Development Act, was passed in the U.S. Congress in 1971 but was vetoed by President Nixon. This legislation would have expanded Head Start and provided preschool education for all children who needed this help before enrolling in school. Every year child care bills are introduced in Congress; however, no comprehensive national child care plan has yet emerged. Some states have begun to offer prekindergarten programs for four-year-olds in their most disadvantaged school districts. And others are considering legislation requiring all schools to offer programs for threeand four-year-olds. A wide variety of child care programs 25 Working in Child Care Centers
CAREERS IN CHILD CARE are subsidized by federal, state, and local governments, and more will appear in the future to meet the demand for quality child care. Canada now has a Universal Child Care Benefit that will give parents C$1,200 a year per child under age six but, for the present, has rejected a plan to create muchneeded, licensed child care spaces.
During the 1980s, business and industry became aware that working mothers with young children had more absences from work and left their jobs more often owing to the responsibility of caring for their children. The problems were greatest with the mothers of preschool children. In response, employers devised child care options to help their working mothers. A few have developed both on-site and off-site child care centers. In some cases, a group of employers have joined together to provide child care for their employees. An employer may also establish a referral service to help families find child care. Many employers offer vouchers for child care or include some form of child care in their benefits packages. With research showing that employer-sponsored day care programs improve morale and cut personnel costs, more companies have started some type of child care program. This trend is expected to continue, and to accelerate, in the future.
The early years curriculum 1: Birth to Three Matters
Since 1997 there have been a number of initiatives regarding the care and education of young children, including very young children. One of the most important things to happen was the bringing together of childcare and education and a recognition that what happens to children in their earliest years may be critical to their subsequent development.
Increasingly, women who are mothers want or need to return to work after the birth of their children. There is still a view in the United Kingdom that these women are ‘bad’ mothers, who put their careers or their financial security before the well-being of their children. There is also a general and lingering suspicion of childcare away from the home, despite a substantial body of evidence highlighting the benefits of children being with other children and other adults. Dahlberg et al. (2004), in the most recent edition of their book looking at quality in early childhood provision, talk, deliberately, of early childhood institutions rather than of early childhood services. They point out that a service implies a giver and a taker, a buyer and a seller. This is the language of the market. Talking of institutions, they argue, takes the discussion into a more public arena where aspects of culture and society, fairness and equity, may be discussed.
Despite the bringing together of care and education, parents are still faced with a plethora of perplexing choices when making decisions about what to do with their young children. The wealthy might employ a nanny or an au pair, or send their child to a private nursery. Some might opt for playgroups, where parents often play a role. Many will try to get their children into the nursery school if there is one in their area and if there is a space. These are often like gold dust! Many will send their children to day care centres and more and more will select children’s centres offering all-day provision.
Increasingly, women who are mothers want or need to return to work after the birth of their children. There is still a view in the United Kingdom that these women are ‘bad’ mothers, who put their careers or their financial security before the well-being of their children. There is also a general and lingering suspicion of childcare away from the home, despite a substantial body of evidence highlighting the benefits of children being with other children and other adults. Dahlberg et al. (2004), in the most recent edition of their book looking at quality in early childhood provision, talk, deliberately, of early childhood institutions rather than of early childhood services. They point out that a service implies a giver and a taker, a buyer and a seller. This is the language of the market. Talking of institutions, they argue, takes the discussion into a more public arena where aspects of culture and society, fairness and equity, may be discussed.
Despite the bringing together of care and education, parents are still faced with a plethora of perplexing choices when making decisions about what to do with their young children. The wealthy might employ a nanny or an au pair, or send their child to a private nursery. Some might opt for playgroups, where parents often play a role. Many will try to get their children into the nursery school if there is one in their area and if there is a space. These are often like gold dust! Many will send their children to day care centres and more and more will select children’s centres offering all-day provision.
Think about these words: Nursery, crèche, childcare centre, daghem, asilo nido (which means ‘nest’), nursery school, nursery class, kindergarten, école maternelle, scuola d’infanzia, children’s centres, wrap-around care, maintained schools, private schools, special schools, independent schools, playgroups
And these: Teacher, teaching assistant, nursery nurse, educationalist, carer, pedagogue, volunteer, helper, manager, childminder, nanny, au pair childcare centre worker, practitioner, manager, Sure Start And these: Montessori, Reggio Emilia, High Scope, Sure Start, Steiner, schemas, Te Whaariki,
Foundation Stage, Birth to Three Matters, Every Child Matters Are you confused? Not surprising, really. These words have been taken out of several current and popular books on early childhood education and care, and it is no wonder that those working with children or thinking about their learning and development feel that they are walking through treacle. We are not going to unpick all these terms now, because there is not the space. You have been asked to think about them purely to get a sense of the complexity of the field.
In 1997 the UK government decided that the time was ripe for developing what it called a framework to support those working with children from birth to the age of three. Already in place was the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage, which applies to children from the age of three to the age of five-plus. (We will turn our attention to that in the next chapter.) The resulting document was called Birth to Three Matters (Department for Education and Skills 2004b), a title which holds the promise of a recognition of something we all know. In the foreword to the document, Baroness Ashton tells us that the publication of the document constitutes a milestone in recognising and valuing our youngest children and the contribution made to their growth and development by the adults who work with them. It raises the status of work with this important age group and marks our commitment to supporting quality and effective practice with children from birth to three.
And these: Teacher, teaching assistant, nursery nurse, educationalist, carer, pedagogue, volunteer, helper, manager, childminder, nanny, au pair childcare centre worker, practitioner, manager, Sure Start And these: Montessori, Reggio Emilia, High Scope, Sure Start, Steiner, schemas, Te Whaariki,
Foundation Stage, Birth to Three Matters, Every Child Matters Are you confused? Not surprising, really. These words have been taken out of several current and popular books on early childhood education and care, and it is no wonder that those working with children or thinking about their learning and development feel that they are walking through treacle. We are not going to unpick all these terms now, because there is not the space. You have been asked to think about them purely to get a sense of the complexity of the field.
In 1997 the UK government decided that the time was ripe for developing what it called a framework to support those working with children from birth to the age of three. Already in place was the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage, which applies to children from the age of three to the age of five-plus. (We will turn our attention to that in the next chapter.) The resulting document was called Birth to Three Matters (Department for Education and Skills 2004b), a title which holds the promise of a recognition of something we all know. In the foreword to the document, Baroness Ashton tells us that the publication of the document constitutes a milestone in recognising and valuing our youngest children and the contribution made to their growth and development by the adults who work with them. It raises the status of work with this important age group and marks our commitment to supporting quality and effective practice with children from birth to three.
The New ChildCare Bill
We have seen a new document relating to the care and education of children from birth to the age of three (which we discuss in detail later in this chapter) as well as the publication of the significant document Every Child Matters and a revised Children Act 2004. Arising out of all this will be the Childcare Bill, which is due to be published before the end of 2006, resulting in what will be called the Early Years Foundation Stage— due to be introduced in 2008 and effectively merging Birth to Three, the Foundation Stage and elements of the National Standards for under-eights day care and childminding. This will be compulsory for all those currently registered with OFSTED as well as for independent, maintained and non-maintained settings catering for children under the age of three. The new regulations will apply to all children from birth until 31 August following any child’s fifth birthday. It will have the same legal status as the Foundation Stage currently has under the National Curriculum and will remove the Foundation Stage from the National Curriculum.
The Early Years Foundation Stage will start with six areas of learning and development. These are:
• personal, social and emotional development;
• communication, language and literacy;
• problem-solving, reasoning and numeracy;
• knowledge and understanding of the world;
• physical development; and
• creative development. You will see that there are few changes in the six learning areas, but those there are, are significant. Mathematics, for example, currently in the Foundation Stage, is to be replaced with the more relevant and meaningful problemsolving, reasoning and numeracy. The new documents will specify early learning goals, educational programmes and assessment arrangements, and it is encouraging to read that these are going to be largely based on the observations adults make of children at play. Another change is the introduction of aspects of welfare— things like the qualifications and training of the adults, the suitability of the premises and resources, how complaints are dealt with and how records are kept. In a press release called ‘Direction of Travel’ (December 2005) we are reminded that the current Foundation Stage was built on research into early childhood provision— specifically the Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE)—a longitudinal study— and Researching Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY). Birth to Three was based on a reading of relevant literature and publications, including a project carried out by Professor Edward Melhuish in June 2004 for the Daycare Trust. This
The Early Years Foundation Stage will start with six areas of learning and development. These are:
• personal, social and emotional development;
• communication, language and literacy;
• problem-solving, reasoning and numeracy;
• knowledge and understanding of the world;
• physical development; and
• creative development. You will see that there are few changes in the six learning areas, but those there are, are significant. Mathematics, for example, currently in the Foundation Stage, is to be replaced with the more relevant and meaningful problemsolving, reasoning and numeracy. The new documents will specify early learning goals, educational programmes and assessment arrangements, and it is encouraging to read that these are going to be largely based on the observations adults make of children at play. Another change is the introduction of aspects of welfare— things like the qualifications and training of the adults, the suitability of the premises and resources, how complaints are dealt with and how records are kept. In a press release called ‘Direction of Travel’ (December 2005) we are reminded that the current Foundation Stage was built on research into early childhood provision— specifically the Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE)—a longitudinal study— and Researching Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY). Birth to Three was based on a reading of relevant literature and publications, including a project carried out by Professor Edward Melhuish in June 2004 for the Daycare Trust. This
showed that three aspects of interaction between children and carers were key: affection, responsiveness and communication.
The new document will highlight the importance of children learning through selfchosen activities— that is, through play— and will advocate that there is a sensible balance between childand adult-initiated activities. The starting point for all provision will be the five outcomes detailed in Every Child Matters and the Children Act (2004):
• Be healthy.
• Stay safe.
• Enjoy and achieve.
• Make a positive contribution.
• Achieve economic well-being. Settings will use the four aspects of Birth to Three Matters, work towards the early learning goals and look ahead to the five aspects outlined above. The fourteen national standards may also apply. It is a far-reaching proposal, making some needed changes and bringing together currently separate strands into one document and one legal framework.
Partnership with Parents
Partnerships with parents You can be left in little doubt that it is generally considered to be a ‘good thing’ for parents and carers to be intimately involved with the schools and settings which care for and educate their children. Birth to Three Matters, the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage and the Foundation Stage Profile: Handbook all remind us of this. Parents, we all know and appreciate, are children’s first educators. Current UK government thinking places parents high on the agenda, talking about ways of helping parents (particularly mothers) go back to work or study and offering them that ‘golden’ word: choice. Indeed, in December 2004 the government published a policy document called Choice for Parents: The Best Start for Children and described the policy as a tenyear strategy for childcare. The goals of the policy are laudable: more money, more training, more inter-agency work. The policy arises out of the research mentioned in an earlier chapter (Daycare Trust 2004) and the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project. Here are some of the things being proposed:
• The setting up of children’s centres where the youngest children are brought together in one setting so that there is care and education for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers.
• The leaders of these children’s centres to be offered training through a one-year programme focusing on leadership (currently being trialled).
• By 2008 there are supposed to be children’s centres serving 2,500 communities.
• The setting up of childminding networks to link childminders caring for children in homes rather than settings to be linked into the system.
• The setting up of extended day programmes for schools, allowing parents to be offered care for their children beyond the hours of the traditional school day. • Funding for childcare through working tax credits which is aimed to go beyond the current figure of £135 per week for a single child and £300 for two children in a family.
• Joined-up services for families.
• A proper qualifications strategy for childcare workers.
• Attention paid to parental leave and to flexible working. It is up to you to decide whether this approach takes seriously raising the status of childcare as a profession, of childcare workers within society, of children within our culture. Sceptics might suggest that the policy has more to do with getting parents back to work to boost the economy than about offering universal, free quality care and education to all children whose parents want it. In terms of parental participation there is a wealth of documented evidence showing that where parents and practitioners work closely together, children thrive. It is imperative that in any setting a genuine two-way partnership is established. This means
Partnerships with parents You can be left in little doubt that it is generally considered to be a ‘good thing’ for parents and carers to be intimately involved with the schools and settings which care for and educate their children. Birth to Three Matters, the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage and the Foundation Stage Profile: Handbook all remind us of this. Parents, we all know and appreciate, are children’s first educators. Current UK government thinking places parents high on the agenda, talking about ways of helping parents (particularly mothers) go back to work or study and offering them that ‘golden’ word: choice. Indeed, in December 2004 the government published a policy document called Choice for Parents: The Best Start for Children and described the policy as a tenyear strategy for childcare. The goals of the policy are laudable: more money, more training, more inter-agency work. The policy arises out of the research mentioned in an earlier chapter (Daycare Trust 2004) and the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project. Here are some of the things being proposed:
• The setting up of children’s centres where the youngest children are brought together in one setting so that there is care and education for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers.
• The leaders of these children’s centres to be offered training through a one-year programme focusing on leadership (currently being trialled).
• By 2008 there are supposed to be children’s centres serving 2,500 communities.
• The setting up of childminding networks to link childminders caring for children in homes rather than settings to be linked into the system.
• The setting up of extended day programmes for schools, allowing parents to be offered care for their children beyond the hours of the traditional school day.
• Funding for childcare through working tax credits which is aimed to go beyond the current figure of £135 per week for a single child and £300 for two children in a family.
• Joined-up services for families. • A proper qualifications strategy for childcare workers.
• Attention paid to parental leave and to flexible working. It is up to you to decide whether this approach takes seriously raising the status of childcare as a profession, of childcare workers within society, of children within our culture. Sceptics might suggest that the policy has more to do with getting parents back to work to boost the economy than about offering universal, free quality care and education to all children whose parents want it. In terms of parental participation there is a wealth of documented evidence showing that where parents and practitioners work closely together, children thrive. It is imperative that in any setting a genuine two-way partnership is established. This means
• The setting up of children’s centres where the youngest children are brought together in one setting so that there is care and education for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers.
• The leaders of these children’s centres to be offered training through a one-year programme focusing on leadership (currently being trialled).
• By 2008 there are supposed to be children’s centres serving 2,500 communities.
• The setting up of childminding networks to link childminders caring for children in homes rather than settings to be linked into the system.
• The setting up of extended day programmes for schools, allowing parents to be offered care for their children beyond the hours of the traditional school day. • Funding for childcare through working tax credits which is aimed to go beyond the current figure of £135 per week for a single child and £300 for two children in a family.
• Joined-up services for families.
• A proper qualifications strategy for childcare workers.
• Attention paid to parental leave and to flexible working. It is up to you to decide whether this approach takes seriously raising the status of childcare as a profession, of childcare workers within society, of children within our culture. Sceptics might suggest that the policy has more to do with getting parents back to work to boost the economy than about offering universal, free quality care and education to all children whose parents want it. In terms of parental participation there is a wealth of documented evidence showing that where parents and practitioners work closely together, children thrive. It is imperative that in any setting a genuine two-way partnership is established. This means
Partnerships with parents You can be left in little doubt that it is generally considered to be a ‘good thing’ for parents and carers to be intimately involved with the schools and settings which care for and educate their children. Birth to Three Matters, the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage and the Foundation Stage Profile: Handbook all remind us of this. Parents, we all know and appreciate, are children’s first educators. Current UK government thinking places parents high on the agenda, talking about ways of helping parents (particularly mothers) go back to work or study and offering them that ‘golden’ word: choice. Indeed, in December 2004 the government published a policy document called Choice for Parents: The Best Start for Children and described the policy as a tenyear strategy for childcare. The goals of the policy are laudable: more money, more training, more inter-agency work. The policy arises out of the research mentioned in an earlier chapter (Daycare Trust 2004) and the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project. Here are some of the things being proposed:
• The setting up of children’s centres where the youngest children are brought together in one setting so that there is care and education for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers.
• The leaders of these children’s centres to be offered training through a one-year programme focusing on leadership (currently being trialled).
• By 2008 there are supposed to be children’s centres serving 2,500 communities.
• The setting up of childminding networks to link childminders caring for children in homes rather than settings to be linked into the system.
• The setting up of extended day programmes for schools, allowing parents to be offered care for their children beyond the hours of the traditional school day.
• Funding for childcare through working tax credits which is aimed to go beyond the current figure of £135 per week for a single child and £300 for two children in a family.
• Joined-up services for families. • A proper qualifications strategy for childcare workers.
• Attention paid to parental leave and to flexible working. It is up to you to decide whether this approach takes seriously raising the status of childcare as a profession, of childcare workers within society, of children within our culture. Sceptics might suggest that the policy has more to do with getting parents back to work to boost the economy than about offering universal, free quality care and education to all children whose parents want it. In terms of parental participation there is a wealth of documented evidence showing that where parents and practitioners work closely together, children thrive. It is imperative that in any setting a genuine two-way partnership is established. This means
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