Early Years Entitlement – Fair or unfair?

If you have children you will no doubt of heard of the Early Years Entitlement funding, just in case you haven’t the following paragraph is taken from the direct.gov site:

“All three and four year olds are entitled to 15 hours of free nursery education for 38 weeks of the year. This applies until they reach compulsory school age (the term following their fifth birthday). Free early education places are available at a range of early years settings including nursery schools and classes, children's centres, day nurseries, play groups and pre-schools and childminders” http://www.direct.gov.uk

There is also provision for 2 year olds if their parents are on low incomes or benefits and qualify in certain criteria. However, this has its own problems though as many nurseries are not offering these hours due to concerns that they won’t be able to cover costs. This is an interesting article I recently read on the subject:  http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/rss/1129125/Nurseries-keen-offer-places-two-year-olds-worry-cost/

Now, don’t get me wrong I am grateful for any assistance towards my ever raising childcare costs but there are few things that seem unfair to me!

Ok, let’s take for example my 2 boys and when their birthdays fall. My eldest was 3 in January 2011 and started to receive his funding from 1^st April 2011, my youngest will be 3 in July 2012 and start to receive his funding from September 2012 (subject to the rules at the time). However my issue is the length of time they each receive funding for. My eldest will start school this September at 4 ¾, and in theory my youngest will start in September 2014 just after his 4^th birthday, so by the time my eldest starts school he would have had nearly 18months worth of funding but my youngest who only just be 4 will only have received a year’s worth of funding.

According to the rules my youngest doesn’t actually reach compulsory school age until the term after his 5^th birthday which would actually make that September 2015 but he is eligible to start from September 2014. So, if I did wait for him to start school until the following year he would have had 2 years funding, but there are 2 reasons that I wouldn’t keep him ‘back’ to the following year i) most importantly I want him to go to school with his friends from nursery and his peers ii) childcare fees, even with the funding costs are extortionate, so to find the money for another year would be hard.

I am sure I am not the only parent is this position, and like me there now more & more people that don’t qualify for any type of child tax credits to help towards the costs of childcare. Let’s look at it another way, a situation I know many friends are in. There are 2 children one born June 2008 and one born January 2008. Both mums stay at home because they can’t afford childcare and are just about coping on their partner’s wage, but neither can afford to put their child into nursery until the funding kicks in. So the January 2008 child starts after Easter and the June 2008 child starts in the September. If both children will start school in September 2012 one will have had just over 3 months extra valuable learning. Yes, the same rule applies to June 2008 child that they could wait until the following school year but in reality how many parents do that either because of wanting to keep their children with friends or due to cost?

I totally understand that there has to be cut off points for all of these things as the amount of ‘what if’ situations would be endless, but surely there has to be a fairer way. I think it is safe to assume that the large majority of children start school when they are 4, so maybe a fairer way to offer the funding could be every child is entitled from the summer term of the year before they start school, so every child gets around 18months? That way every child would get the same amount and maybe the younger ones in the year would be then better prepared for school?

There is never go to be quick fix solution to any of these issues, but something has to change & soon! Don’t forget to check out our petitions page for some links to e-petitions that we think are well worth a signature!

Modern World versus the Reality of Modern Living!

 

As a mum, wife & business women, my little boy is 16 months old going on 16 but I wouldn't change him for the world, the weeks are pretty chaotic balancing work, childcare, routines, housework & starting up a business with the husband. Some days I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry, sleep  or eat.

My husband works from home so has the boy during day, balancing emails, voicemails, conference calls & nappies! Alex, my little boy sleeps for about an hour & half to two hours a day in which time my husband organises meetings, conference calls, emails etc.

Once the boy had gone to bed around 7pm my husband & I head into the office and normally spend a few hours working before either crashing on the sofa or in bed.  Our business is online so leans itself to non-traditional office hours.

Weekends are no different really, balancing emails, calls & meetings between walks, the park & playtime.

Childcare is a particularly challenging issue, with grandparents not close by. We juggle things quite well but as the boy gets older its more & more difficult.

It enrages me that my little boy is missing brilliant social & learning opportunities due to the ridiculous cost of childcare.  I'm mindful that he does not suffer the same shyness that I had as a child.  With the early years in my sons life being so crucial to form the basis of good education, morality, self-discipline and social integration – consistency, common sense and most importantly love is provided all of the time.

Surely in order for our children to success in our modern world we must arm them with the tools to cope; well-rounded & grounded individuals.

I feel that society judges “oh you work full time & have a child" it's like one is ok but surely you can't do both.  Should this not be the norm?

I feel like society is saying "surely you can’t be a great mother, your son must miss out" I’m happy that whilst the hoover may only make it out once a week, on a good week, and sometimes a bowl of cereal constitutes dinner - I'm a great mother!

The current world may claim to be modern, but how many workplaces offer childcare to mums and dads?  One third of UK companies, clearly the minority!

The government childcare voucher scheme is just a not acceptable. £243 a month, thank you that pays for just over a week - what happens to the rest of the month?  Surely we should be more encouraging of parents to earn a living and support their family – did hard work ever harm anyone?  My thoughts are very “black and white” but after the Government has paid benefits for parents able and wanting to work – couldn’t we contribute more towards childcare costs instead?

Referring to my earlier statement that childcare costs are ridiculous, on the flipside £44 a day to take the responsibly of my son is pennies for the privilege.  The responsibility of looking after someone else's child is a precious opportunity and should not be taken lightly - I truly believe childcare workers are saints!

Why are innovative, forward thinking companies not encouraging a better family life by introduction better childcare and crèche facilities?  Pensions, healthcare and cars appear to be the norm for remuneration packages but I believe that modern working mums & dads are worth providing improved childcare too.

I’m sure like others, living in a city centre means driving out of the city for the closest nursery facilities (probably due to rental costs or availability in the city centre) 

My ambition and aspiration is to provide crèche facilities, as standard, as well as pensions, catering, health & dental care to my team. Happy & healthy workers surely = greater productivity, loyalty and commitment?  Is our modern world work force worth the investment?

This brilliant guest post was written by Angela Matthews, please follow her on Twitter @AnjMatthews - Thank you! :o)

How to juggle business and children!

There is no getting away from it – when you are passionate about something – whatever that may be, it is all consuming.  It takes up your every thought from morning till night and you do everything within your power to give your passion wings and make it fly.

I am a Mum.  First and foremost.  And I LOVE it.  I never realised how much I would love being Mummy and 4 years after the birth of my first child, I am still waiting for the novelty to wear off.  I will be the first to admit that I am somewhat OTT but I honestly cannot get enough of my children.

9 months ago, I discovered a new passion – my company, dorothyandtheodore.com.  What started life as a casual conversation with my friend and now business partner Emma over coffee and cake one day, now absorbs the only bit of my brain which isn’t planning the next outing, adventure or stage of weaning!

As anyone who has started their own business will tell you, it takes two big things to make it successful.  Patience – something I have none of but I do my best and Emma is great at reining me in, and hard work.  The sleepless nights which are par for the course with new babies (I have 6 month old Belle in addition to 4 year old Dalton, and Emma has 8 month old Joshua in addition to 3 year old Sophie) that coincided with the launch of D&T were put to good use not only feeding and nurturing our newborns but also exercising our brain power in terms of the next day’s ‘to do’ list.

Now that we are up and running, the ‘to do’ list seems to get longer each day.  And at the same time, time is flying by and our babies are well on their way to being toddlers and our toddlers are only a matter of months away from going to school.  Time, which has always been precious, is increasingly at a premium, and as any new mum will tell you – flying by far too quickly.  So it is super important to be really disciplined about our time and our roles. 

For me, juggling being a mum and a director of my own company, it is all about zoning my time.  Family time is just that,  - no ‘doing a bit or just this odd job’ and no sitting the children in front on the TV to try and make a phone call – although of course if I’m honest – those occasions do happen once in a while – sometimes there is just no getting away from it.  And work time – which in my schedule is when the children are asleep or one’s asleep and the other’s at pre-school, is the time to concentrate and focus on the tasks which need to be done for D&T.  I confess that I find it hard to ignore the flashing light on the Blackberry telling me that there is a new email, and often ‘challenge’ myself not to go pick it up and then am delighted with myself when I realise that I had successfully completely forgot about the email due to other distractions.  But this approach does centre the work time so that you are, I believe, efficient and focused, and use your time wisely and effectively.

They say behind every great man is a great woman, and I have to say that in my case there is a great man behind this – wannabe  - great woman.  I could not do what I do without my hubby’s support and ever ready acceptance that I had not had chance to plan or cook his tea or got the washing done.  But with his support, a huge amount of dedication, and an even bigger desire to make my children proud of me and prove to them that anything is possible if you work hard, I think I do an ok job of juggling D&T and my priority – my children.  It’s not perfect – I am always burning the midnight oil and can’t remember the last time I just sat and watched telly, but I’m getting used to the lack of sleep and seeing my beautiful children every morning is enough to remind me to be the best person I can be, for me and for them.

Sally Hall is director and co- founder of www.dorothyandtheodore.com.  Where stylish and beautiful products for parents and child are practical too! Follow Dorothy and Theodore on Twitter too @DollyandTeddy :o)

Raising the question of excellent provision for young carers

When it comes to the delicate question of how to provide for young carers in school the first question has to be what do THEY need?

It was whilst working as a youth worker in one of our academies that I first posed the question of excellent provision for young carers. Within one morning I had spoken to two young people who were struggling with their behaviour at school and likely to face exclusion. As they spoke openly about family circumstances it dawned on me that they were caring for people in the family and unable to concentrate or truly care about school life.

It may be perceived as fortunate in this case that I have a background as a young carer myself- this means that I have first hand knowledge of what they are likely to need although obviously each individual will have unique needs as well. As soon as I had identified these traits and needs it made me question how many young people were actually caring for someone within the school. Some of the young people were registered young carers and being provided for by Barnados; an amazing young carers charity, but many had not been identified at all and so I began to do some student consultations with those that the school thought might be struggling at home.

It quickly became apparent that simply starting an after school group would possibly not be the best option; many of these young carers start the real work as soon as they get home-but some said that if transport was provided they could attend for an hour after school and so in partnership with another local agency we started after school sessions that helped them to deal with stress and anxiety as well as gave them some respite from home life and routines.  We also provided trips three times the first year including our first residential which was simply a night camping but was so fantastic in building not only relationships but confidence.

I was also acutely aware that the young people were struggling to focus in school time and so the youth agency I work for in collaboration with the school allowed me to focus on giving each young person some time to simply offload every week, meaning that they could focus on schoolwork on their return to the classroom. Working in school time to support the young carers also often entails becoming an advocate for those that struggle with equipment issues such as not doing homework or not having P.E kit, something that is often blamed on the childs lack of responsibility when often these children have several responsibilities already!

In conclusion the provision for young carers must be a multi agency approach teamed with a willingness to learn from the young carers as much as from websites and other places that will enable the school to understand how to make excellent provision for these important young members of society.

This guest blog was written by Carol Barwick who is project manager at Raise Children's Project which is currently based in West Yorkshire. If you would like more informationon on the service they provide please email her at carolbarwick1@aol.com or follow Raise on Twitter @raisechildrens