Will The 30 Free Hours Stretch The Flexibility Of Early Years Care Beyond The Limit?
As parents' working hours continue to deviate from the 'usual' Monday to Friday, 9-5, early years setting have had to keep up. When the 30-hours extended entitlement kicks in, this will get even trickier
Delivering flexibly to meet the needs of families is something the early years sector has become expert at, and that should be celebrated.
We’ve achieved this by being close to children and parents, and listening to their needs. At the same time, there has been a revolution at work.
Few employed roles now follow school term-time patterns, with more parents working across a seven-day week, and at weekends too. This is thought to be the case for low-income families especially, but whatever the family income level, it makes paying for, scheduling and using childcare more complicated than it used to be.
So, there is still some work to be done. Following on from the outstanding success of the free entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, and for the least advantaged two-year-olds, we’ve been challenged to offer up to 30 hours of free childcare for three- and four-year-olds from working families.
Achieving this from September 2017 will require careful consideration and planning, action from government, local areas and providers – and for us to be ambitious!
Often, in the sector we believe we’re meeting parents’ needs, but we aren’t really doing enough. Joining up two sessions through a paid-for lunch break is a start, but it isn’t the flexibility parents tell me they want.
There is always the risk that we’re only meeting the needs of those who have been able to use us. What about those parents still in the childcare trap, where they cannot find suitable childcare for the price they can pay? The 30-hours extended entitlement aims to remove some of these barriers.
Careful consideration and planning is therefore a role for all of us. It’s providers who are tasked with achieving the delicate balancing act of meeting the statutory requirements of the entitlement and its funding, and meeting the needs of parents and children.
The first and most important task is to talk to parents, listen to them and keep listening. This isn’t an optional extra; it’s a vital part of running a childcare business.
Consult with families to fully understand the local childcare market – its supply and demands, parents’ work patterns, and the choices they make, and cannot make, when using childcare.
Then, take action.
Develop plans based on your market research, expert advice and support, and consultation with parents. Identify your challenges and support requirements, and see who can help. And remember, keep listening and changing!
James Hempsall OBE is director of Hempsall’s training, research and consultancy. Visit hempsalls.com or follow on Twitter at @jhempsall.
