FSFRebecca Posted September 11, 2018 Posted September 11, 2018 The DfE has today released the research report "Evaluation of the first year of the national rollout of 30 hours free childcare" . There is an awful lot of data to digest! The summary is as follows (p28/29) • A high proportion of providers delivering the funded entitlement were willing and able to offer the extended hours, although the policy required some adjustments to provision for some providers and the financial impacts were mixed. • Almost all registered parents had obtained an extended hours place, with very few not taking up the extended hours because they could not use them in the way they wanted or because they could not find a provider offering the hours. However, better information about the extended offer and how to access it locally could facilitate access for the unknown number of eligible parents who have not applied. • The offer was not completely flexible or free for all parents with substantial proportions reporting restrictions on when they could use the hours or that they had to pay charges for additional items or activities. • High proportions of parents using the extended hours reported that they believed that the policy is supporting them to work and having positive impacts on their family finances and quality of family life. These perceived impacts were greater for families with lower levels of income among those using the extended hours. • There were two potential concerns going forward. First, the downsizing of some local childcare teams due to local funding reductions may mean there are insufficient resources in some areas to adequately support policy implementation in the future. Second, there was an expectation that demand for extended places will increase and parents will be better informed and more able to “shop around” than the current cohort of parents. The uncertainty about parents’ future responses and the fact that two terms were not sufficient for providers to assess the financial impact of delivering the extended offer meant that some providers were waiting to see if delivering the extended hours will be financially viable in the long term.
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted September 11, 2018 Posted September 11, 2018 Im getting cross about people saying I am 'willing and able' to accept 30 hours.....I don't really have a choice!. and were we not TOLD to charge for extras by the government...sort of sounds like we are being awkward by doing this! 1
AnonyMouse_67044 Posted October 4, 2018 Posted October 4, 2018 I appreciate that the new 30 hour initiative is very supportive for some parents, but it has had a very significant negative impact on our provision. Our nursery is in a deprived area and our parents tend not meet the minimum income threshold. These are really vulnerable families. In previous years, our borough offered free full time provision for 3 year olds, but last year we had to cut our hours in half. Lots of parents were not willing or able to send their children to us for half days, and those that did have experienced a real difference in terms of the impact that a whole year of only 15 hours per week of nursery had on their child's development. Entry levels to Reception this year are so much lower, but more importantly, I feel that this new initiative is a step backwards in terms of trying to 'narrow the gap'.
FSFRebecca Posted October 4, 2018 Author Posted October 4, 2018 3 hours ago, Paula_Szpakowski said: I appreciate that the new 30 hour initiative is very supportive for some parents, but it has had a very significant negative impact on our provision. Our nursery is in a deprived area and our parents tend not meet the minimum income threshold. These are really vulnerable families. In previous years, our borough offered free full time provision for 3 year olds, but last year we had to cut our hours in half. Lots of parents were not willing or able to send their children to us for half days, and those that did have experienced a real difference in terms of the impact that a whole year of only 15 hours per week of nursery had on their child's development. Entry levels to Reception this year are so much lower, but more importantly, I feel that this new initiative is a step backwards in terms of trying to 'narrow the gap'. Well done making your first post Thank you for your insightful comments about the impact of the 30 hours. Would you mind if I shared it with the APPG lobby group?
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