DAY
NURSERIES
29. Day nurseries form a large part of the provision
for the Early Years and receive children from the age of a few
months to five years. Some parents who work long hours find this
provision meets their needs for day care.
30. The National Day Nurseries Association is very
concerned about the overall quality of provision. They welcomed
the Early Learning Goals and told the Sub-committee that they
had "long argued for the enhancement of Early Years qualifications
and the development of a ladder of progression".[43]
The aims and objectives for the curriculum of one private day
nursery are that "the first prime aim and objective is to
produce happy, confident children who are interested in all they
see, hear and do and who have enquiring minds. All other aims
and objectives stem from this".[44]
31. It is difficult to maintain close relationships
with parents in day nurseries since the parents are frequently
hurrying to work in the mornings and eager to get home after a
long day at work. The nurseries are aware of this and express
the need for a close partnership between parents and children.
There is concern in the private sector that there are two separate
inspection systems, since the Early Learning Goals " ...
have provided a unique opportunity for day nurseries to be part
of the process of early education and be recognised for their
expertise through the OFSTED inspection process".[45]
INTEGRATION
INITIATIVES:
SURE
START
32. The years from birth to five plus are crucial
in determining children's life chances. Sure Start sets out to
address the challenge of helping children in more disadvantaged
areas. Sure Start is not so much an education and care initiative
but an integration of care and health services. There was clear
evidence of the benefits of providing quality support services
for babies and young parents. The objectives, scale and scope
of the Sure Start initiative are most impressive. Although it
was at a very early stage of development, it was felt by many
witnesses that this targeted intervention programme in areas of
high disadvantage had the potential to break cycles of dependency
and to combat social exclusion and educational under-achievement.
According to Ms Tan Lea, the Director of the Rosehill Littlemore
Sure Start in Oxford:
"One of the enormous
strengths about Sure Start, which is different from the way some
services are currently delivered, is that having targeted an area
of disadvantage with a lack of resources you are then talking
about universal provision, so you are getting over the bit that
says, you are only getting this because you are in need and they
are stigmatising services. After all, the challenge will be making
sure these services are accessible to the broadest group of people".[46]
Dr Gillian Pugh of Coram Family warned that Sure
Start should not be separate from the rest of Early Years education:
"Sure Start is fantastic,
it is one of the most exciting things this Government is doing.
However, Sure Start will only be effective if it becomes a mainstream
strategy and not a short term initiative which disappears in four
years time. In addition it needs to change the way we run services
across the country, not just in the 250 areas in which it is based.
It will only work if the lessons we learn from working with children
under three are consistent and continuous with what we know about
working with children from three upwards".[47]
33. We recommend that the years from birth to
five plus should be viewed as the first phase of education, in
which the involvement of families and parents will be crucial.
Since education and care are inseparable, there should be a universal
service under the leadership of a single Government Department.
34. We recommend that Government funding should
be made available to support the sharing of best practice and
learning from the experience of the Sure Start centres.
9 Appendix 6 para. 8. Back
10 Q.
118. Back
11 See
Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation, Cm 4386, July 1999,
chapter 3. Back
12 Q.
299; QCA Early Learning Goals, page 17. Back
13 Asquith
Court Early Years Curriculum,
1999. Back
14 Q.
3. Back
15 See
QQ. 108-118 and Appendix 37. Back
16 Ev.
pp. 180-187. Back
17 Ev.
p. 181. Back
18 Ev.
p. 183. The measures included literacy skills, early number skills,
non-verbal skills and language attainment. Back
19 Ev.
p. 183. Back
20 Ev.
p. 183. Back
21 Q.
382. Back
22 Q.
389. Back
23 Q.
18. Back
24 Q.
202. Back
25 Q.
208. Back
26 Q.
211. Back
27 Q.
246. Back
28 Q.
299. Back
29 Q.
324. Back
30 See
the National Centre for Social Research study by Ivana La Valle,
Steven Finch, Andrea Nove, and Charlotte Lewin, Parents' Demand
for Childcare, DfEE Research Report RR176, December 1999. Back
31 See
DfEE circular 1/99 (issued jointly with Department of Health as
its Local Authority Circular No. (99) 2). Back
32 DfEE
Consultation on national standards for the regulation of day care
and childminding in England, July 2000. Available on the Internet
at www.dfee.gov.uk/daycare. Back
33 DfEE
Consultation on national standards for childminders, July 2000,
section 1.6; National Childminding Association Press Release 247,
28 July 2000. Back
34 Q.
405. Back
35 DfEE
Consultation on national standards for childminders, July 2000,
section 11.4. Back
36 DfEE
Consultation on national standards for childminders, July 2000,
section 11.5. Back
37 National
Childminding Association Press Release 247, 28 July 2000. Back
38 Each
of the other sections of the July 2000 DfEE Consultation on national
standards for the regulation of day care and childminding in England
refers to a no smoking policy. Back
39 Second
Report from the Health Committee, Session 1999-2000, The Tobacco
Industry and the Health Risks of Smoking, HC 27, paras. 25-27. Back
40 Report
of the Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health, 1998, p. 33. Back
41 Sudden
Unexpected Deaths in Infancy,
The CESDI SUDI Studies 1993-1996, Eds. P. Fleming, P. Blair,
C. Bacon and J. Berry, 2000, p. 90. Back
42 National
Childminding Association Press Release 247, 28 July 2000. Back
43 Appendix
26, para. 3.1. Back
44 Asquith
Court Early Years Curriculum,
1999. Back
45 Appendix
26, para. 1.1. Back
46 Q.
127. Back
47 Q.
2. Back