by Becky Chapman
Kiddie Capers Childcare
Over the past few months, the Early Years sector has been at the forefront of the media. A sector, which was already under significant pressure, now faces additional financial and operational challenges.
Early Years education is not only crucial to society, but research shows that children who spend longer in an Early Years provision, have better outcomes later in life. That’s why we fully support the expansion of government funding for children aged nine months plus from September 2025 – we’re one step closer to ensuring that every child in the country has access to high quality, affordable and flexible childcare that meets every individual’s needs.
The support that this expansion in funding brings to working families is fantastic – it’s hard to remember that just a year ago there was limited funding available to families.
But we felt it important to share an insight into life in Early Years, to ensure parents and carers understand some of the challenges we face in the sector daily.
Attending nursery is so much more than just ‘childcare’ – it forms the basis of their early learning journey and is fundamental to their future. Experienced practitioners deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum (EYFS), which covers birth to five years, ensuring all children in their care are exposed to critical life skills.
Here, we pride ourselves on developing a range of educational activities and outdoor adventures, led by children’s curiosity, to spark their imagination and foster a love of learning and the world around us. Through regular assessments, and parental involvement, we encourage independence and can further identify and support those with additional needs.
It’s no secret that rising costs have impacted everyone across the country, and the Early Years sector is no stranger to this. Rising operational costs, increases to minimum wage and employers’ national insurance contributions, alongside funding that doesn’t cover the true cost of a child’s place at nursery, have led to many businesses, some of whom have been operating for decades, sadly having to close their doors for the last time – often in the areas that need them the most.
Providers are facing tougher constraints from their local authorities in an already heavily regulated world, making it increasingly difficult to deliver high quality education within tight financial restraints. Providers must now balance these restrictions, such as how and when funding can be used, with the known financial impact to ensure their business remains viable. Providers want to remain as flexible as possible to meet the requirements of the families they provide such a valuable support to, but sometimes they are restricted. It’s important to check the fee structures and funding models for each nursery to check how much funding can be used per day based on the hours you require care for, as this will vary from nursery to nursery and will impact your total monthly invoice.
With the increase in funding available, providers are naturally seeing a decline in families who are paying for additional hours of care, leaving sometimes a significant gap in income. This has sadly left providers without a choice but to have to introduce a ‘consumables’ charge to go some way to help cover the costs that a nursery incurs, but government funding does not cover – such as snacks, nappies (where required) and external trips. This also allows nurseries to be able to continue to deliver vital sessions (such as Forest School), which are considered above and beyond the EYFS curriculum and so important to a child’s learning.
Early Years providers are having to adapt by being innovative, streamlining their operations and exploring new funding models whilst working to those strict provider agreements. Providers have had no choice but to pass on some of their increased costs to parents through fee increases, and necessary ‘consumable’ charges to support the delivery of the EYFS, or make a loss and ultimately face closure, something that no provider wants to do. It’s about survival and being able to continue to do what we love, providing a truly valuable Early Years education to the next generation.
Something that not many parents and carers will realise is that funding rates vary across the country. Yes, the government set out overall funding, but the hourly rates nurseries receive per child differs depending on your local authority.
Staffing to meet the needs of families is often another large concern for providers. Practitioners bring patience, creativity and empathy, but despite a recent Department of Education campaign, there is a distinct lack of qualified practitioners in the market and fewer people deciding that a career in Early Years is for them. Renumeration could be one factor, as this often doesn’t reflect the qualifications and skillset required for the role, or it could be the under-appreciated nature of the industry. We believe that happy staff = happy children, and that’s why we invest in our people as much as possible and have developed a sector leading benefits and renumeration package for our colleagues.
But it’s not all doom and gloom, working in Early Years is incredibly rewarding – no two days are the same and who wouldn’t want to work with children who are inquisitive and have such a love for life – we could all learn a lot from them!
We have no doubt that every family out there truly understands the value of a high-quality Early Years education and the integral part it plays in the UK education system – but there is a long way to go to ensure the sector is sustainable for the future.
In a sector which needs reform and significant further investment, we ask just one thing – please be patient and understanding. Everyone is doing their best and always putting the children first.
For anyone wanting to explore their funding options further, we recommend visiting the Childcare Choices website. It provides further information on entitlement, how to claim funding and other support available to parents (such as Tax Free Childcare) visit http://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/whats-new
With settings located across Sussex, we’d love to hear from you – find out more about us at www.kiddiecaperschildcare.co.uk
