New report: the support nurseries give to families should be acknowledged and supported
A new study from Dr Nathan Archer and the British Academy has looked at the additional services and family support increasingly offered by early childhood education settings in England, its importance and the struggles it creates. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/415081306_Nurseriesa_new_frontier_of_the_welfare_state
Their report concludes that this support is not formally recognised in policy, often leaving settings short of both funding and training. It features contributions from providers and parents about the support offered and the challenges they face.
It makes a number of policy suggestions including
- For policy makers to acknowledge additional family support offered in early education settings through the early years funding formula allocated to settings
- For policy makers to reflect the knowledge and labour demands of family support in initial early education qualification standards
- That policy makers should consider the range of possible integrated working arrangements between early education settings and statutory services beyond the networked site model in Best Start Family Hub guidance in response to community needs and early education infrastructure
- For policy makers to consult on the piloting of a Family Support Co-ordinator model embedded within an early education team (akin to statutory SENDCo role) with funding and professional development support to facilitate this role.
Tim McLachlan, Chief Executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), told the press: “We are grateful to Dr Nathan Archer for his study into the additional services and support that private and voluntary nurseries offer families as a matter of course. Our nurseries do this voluntarily and willingly to help families, who in turn trust their nurseries and ask for their advice on a range of matters.
“Nurseries have always been at the heart of their local communities and offer much more than early education and care. This kind of support is so valuable at a time when families are vulnerable and exhausted.
“However, we do agree with the report’s author that there should be an acknowledgement of this additional work which nurseries do for families and the value of that work for the families and their community. There should be more support for nurseries in the form of additional funding for their time, funded training and resources for staff and more support from their local authorities to help them with signposting to external services.”
Read the report here https://www.researchgate.net/publication/415081306_Nurseriesa_new_frontier_of_the_welfare_state
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