Providers seek to defend childcare for over-5s

Childcare has been high on the agenda since the government announced its commission into the issue in June last year.

But the care of older children has received little airtime in debates relating to the Childcare Commission, while before- and after-school childcare provision continues to fall prey to local budget cuts.

As part of the commission, the government pledged to investigate ways to “encourage the provision of wraparound and holiday childcare for children of school age”.

The Daycare Trust is among the organisations to have responded to ministers with recommendations. Kate Groucutt, the charity’s deputy chief executive, says before- and after-school provision – known as extended services under the previous government – is key to improving the life chances of families.

Working parents
“This is the bit of the childcare system that’s so essential for parents to work,” says Groucutt. “Many parents do stay at home when their child is under five, but by the time they’re older than five, most parents are working and single parents are expected to look for work.”

She says that childcare services for older children have been hit hard by local government cuts, arguing that legally binding duties must be placed on councils in order to protect extended services.

She also believes that local authorities must do more to work in partnership with schools and vice versa.

“With the move towards more independence for schools, there’s a risk the situation could become more difficult,” she warns. “We need schools to put in some of their budget, perhaps through the pupil premium, to keep funding some of these services.”

As part of its investigation into childcare for older children, the Childcare Commission has promised to explore how parents and volunteers can set up local schemes to look after school-aged children in their area.

Groucutt says that while parents and carers are well placed to identify local need, they lack the capacity to address the shortfall in before- and after-school provision.

“Even projects that come from the grassroots need funding,” she says. “There are ongoing barriers to parents getting involved with running services, such as time, skills and confidence. When people have small children it is difficult to juggle sitting on a committee and doing lots of voluntary work. We have to be realistic about how much time parents have got to give, and that support and infrastructure needs to be provided by councils.”

Catherine Wrench, director of the Out of School Alliance, warns that rent increases on school sites are fuelling a decline in extended services, which must be tackled if childcare for school-age children is to be improved.

“Lots of clubs that are based in schools have suddenly seen massive rent increases because the school’s funding has been cut and they’re trying to make a bit extra,” she says. “We’ve had lots of clubs calling us saying they’re closing because they can’t afford the rent.”

Wrench adds that one of the biggest burdens for people running out-of-school provision is the fact that they have to comply with the regulations of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

“After-school clubs are registered as early years settings, so it’s a real struggle to find registered, qualified staff to work 3pm until 6pm on fairly low wages,” she explains. “Unlike nurseries that can boost their revenue by increasing places or opening for longer hours, after-school clubs can’t do either of those things.”

Wrench runs an after-school club that caters for two children who fall under the EYFS, which means that the club must carry out obligatory observations, profiling and meetings with the children’s primary EYFS provider.

“The children coming to us from school have already had a day of the EYFS curriculum being delivered, so it’s a bizarre system where we’re expected to deliver the curriculum for a second time in a day for the youngest children, whereas the older children just get to relax,” Wrench says.

She believes that unless this rule is changed, the government’s vision of more parent-led care settings will be unachievable.

EYFS exemption
“The government would need to exempt all wraparound care from delivering EYFS,” she says. “Even if you’re looking after older children and not required to deliver EYFS, there are still the requirements of the compulsory childcare register.

“The biggest problem with any childcare is finding appropriately qualified staff. The only way it can be done is by removing the regulatory side of it”.

But Dawn Gilderoy, policy and development manager for schools and child poverty at the charity ContinYou, believes that schools can find creative ways of securing access to childcare for older pupils and generating income from such services.

“The principles around the previous government’s extended services agenda seem to have been maintained in many areas,” she says. “While there are some challenges, either real or perceived, schools are finding ways to avoid the complexity and the burdens.”

She cites a social enterprise in Lancashire called Schools Lettings Solutions, which is helping schools to rent out their