Standing Up To Childcare Changes

News release

29th May 2013

Parents and nursery workers are being invited to have their say on proposed changes to childcare at an event organised to raise awareness of the issue.

The Old Station Nursery is holding drop-in picnics for parents and children at its settings in Filkins, Henley-on-Thames, and Innsworth from 3.30pm on Friday 31st June in honour of International Children’s Day, which takes place the following day.

The group’s nursery in Newark will host its picnic on Friday between 1.30pm and 3.30pm, while the nursery at Faringdon will hold an event on 4th June between 3.30pm and 4.40pm. All the picnics are open to parents with children at the settings, and those without.

The organisation behind the day, a social enterprise called the London Early Years Foundation, says it set up the event following concerns raised by early years workers about changes to the sector which could lead to an increase in the number of children staff can care for.

The aim is to promote the welfare of children and celebrate the contribution made by staff to early years education.

Sarah Steel, Managing Director of The Old Station Nursery, said: “There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the proposed changes to childcare ratios, but parents and those working in the field aren’t always in a position to talk about it with their peers and have their views heard.

“These picnics are about giving people the chance to have their say on something which could impact both their working life and their family life.

“We want to show exactly what goes into caring for children, which is why we’re hosting our events at our settings. It’s also a chance to show the Government why it’s important that we don’t make swift changes to an established and well thought of system without first consulting the sector involved.”

Education Minister Liz Truss has announced proposals which involve changing the ratio of children to staff from four two-year-olds for every one member of staff to six, while the ratio for children aged up to two will go up from three to four for every one member of staff.

It has been claimed that the proposals will both reduce parent fees and increase staff wages, but those in the sector say this isn’t possible.

The CEO of LEYF, June O’Sullivan, said: “Early years staff are unwilling to remain downtrodden and ignored when we contribute significantly to supporting the national economy and to the wellbeing of children. We need to highlight these issues and make our voices heard.”

The early years sector is having a Twitter debate on this issue on 1st June 2013. Join in the conversation through the hashtags #reclaimearlyyears and #1stjune.

Ends

Notes to editors:

About The Old Station Nursery

• Sarah Steel set up The Old Station Nursery in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, in 2002 when she left the army and was unable to find suitable childcare for her two children
• The Old Station Nursery group has 10 settings in total in Lincolnshire Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire and Buckinghamshire
• Visit www.theoldstationnursery.co.uk for more details

About the London Early Years Foundation (LEYF)

• The London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) provides day care and parenting support to a diverse mix of families in 24 community, workplace and Children’s Centre nurseries across six London boroughs

• LEYF has developed a unique social business model the uses suatinable income from its nurseries in more affluent areas to actively target the heart of some of the capital’s most deprived communities; in doing so LEYF makes high quality day care affordable to families who have traditionally been unable to reach or afford it, and typically need it most of all

• More information can be found at www.leyf.org.uk

Cerri Delaney
Shooting Star PR
01522 528540
07985 143990
cerri@shootingstar-pr.co.uk
www.shootingstar-pr.co.uk
t: @CerriDelaney

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