Shortage of childcare staff affecting 'catch up' efforts, Ofsted warns

The inspectorate reports that childcare providers are struggling to recruit and retain high-quality early years practitioners and are having to employ less qualified staff and redeploy managers into frontline work to maintain services.

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This, in turn, is hampering efforts to support children’s social, emotional and physical development, all of which have been affected by loss of early education and social interactions over the past two years.

The findings are from Ofsted’s Education Recovery in the Early Years briefing, published this week, which draws on more than 70 inspections and focus groups involving providers and inspectors over the spring.

“Some well-qualified and experienced staff moved to different jobs during the pandemic and providers said they were now struggling to recruit quality staff to replace them,” the briefing states. “This resulted in a lack of skilled early years practitioners in some providers. Many providers were taking on apprentices, who required training and support, while staff were also helping children’s learning and development, which was an added demand.

“In most providers, managers have had to step in to cover staff shortages. Newly qualified staff have had less work experience and so have more limited knowledge and skills.”

The staffing shortage has affected the quality of teaching and implementation of catch up strategies, the briefing states.

“To compensate, many providers have encouraged staff to complete online training and, in some cases, specialist training, such as in techniques to support speech and language development,” it adds.

Ofsted also found evidence that children’s communication and language development continued to be affected by the pandemic, with many providers noticing delays in their speech and language progress.

“Providers are making more referrals for external help than before the pandemic and are waiting longer for this specialist help,” it states. “To compensate, providers were making sure that children were learning in an environment rich with language, with a focus on extending vocabulary and practising speech.

“The negative impact on children’s personal, social and emotional development has also continued, with many children lacking confidence in group activities.

“Some providers continue to notice delays in babies’ physical development. Several have increased the amount of time children spend on physical activities, both indoors and outdoors, to develop their gross motor skills.”

In addition, the report highlighted providers’ concerns that they are supporting fewer children eligible for the government funded entitlement for the most disadvantaged two-year-olds, an issue raised in a recent report by Coram Family and Childcare. This is partly because there are fewer places for younger children as providers prioritise places for four-year-olds, the report adds.

Another factor, it states, is that some children who would usually have been in early years provision have stayed at home as parents’ working routines have changed.

“Providers said that some of these children’s parents had missed out on educational opportunities themselves, and so may have struggled to see the benefit of their children returning to early years education,” it states.

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association, said: “Ofsted’s education recovery in early years report chimes with what our members are telling us, that the pandemic is still affecting children in terms of their development.

“The whole sector is under real pressure from a drop in the numbers of qualified practitioners. We can see this in the number of inspection deferrals they have asked for and from what providers are telling us.

“This workforce crisis is showing itself in a range of ways, with some providers even forced to close rooms or reduce numbers of places they offer in the short term – so it’s important for inspectors to recognise these difficulties on their visits. The shortage of qualified practitioners is also impacting on children with special educational needs and disabilities who need one to one care.”

The report found that the staffing problems and uncertainty over the number of children taking up childcare places was raising concerns among some providers over their long-term viability, an issue that Tunuku said must be recognised by ministers.

“If they wish to have high quality early education places available for all children, they need to give meaningful financial support to get all childcare providers through this tough time,” she added.