Any parent will tell you that whilst a new baby brings an unbelievable amount of joy, it also heralds the advent of a world of guilt. We worry about over-feeding, under-feeding, being too routine, being too flexible. To breastfeed or to bottlefeed? Dummy (sorry, the more pc ’soother’) or not? But really, this is just the beginning of a lifetime of questioning what we are doing and how we shape up as parents. Deciding whether to go back to work or not is one of the hardest decisions for mothers in particular and can provoke a great deal of guilt. Many mothers enjoy work, many need to work for financial reasons, and many recognise that in order to still have a career when their child goes to school, they need to continue working after maternity leave.

The mass of media findings on the subject don’t really make it much easier, as for every article that is ‘for’ there is an ‘against’. I recently read this interesting article from an American study that claims that a mother returning to work doesn’t adversely affect a baby; http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/01/babies-dont-suffer-working-mothers?dm_i=2MN,7KPX,5SBSA,J2UE,1

From a personal perspective, I welcome such research, if only as it counter-balances the enormous amount of negative press there is about working mums. However, I do remember being told that when it comes to parenting it’s all about being ‘good enough’. The Americans might say ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’, but all we can all do is be the best at the job we can. Fortunately it is a hugely rewarding, very entertaining and generally unbelievable job, so let’s make the most of it and not take too much notice of what other people think.

Last week saw the announcement by the Department for Education that they were launching a review into the Early Years Foundation Stage. This has been met with a very mixed response by the sector, as despite a lot of reservations when the new curriculum was introduced, we have all worked really hard over the last 2 years to embed the new systems and to make staff confident with the record keeping and observations that are required. The main feeling that I am picking up on is one of ‘just leave us alone’! The sector has seen so much change over the last few years, that to be honest, we would just like to be left to recover from the constant tinkering and actually feel that we can move forward on our own, without yet another initiative being introduced. I have a great deal of sympathy for the school sector, whom I know have the same issues.

I have sat on a committee with Dame Claire Tickell, who is heading up the EYFS review, and have always thought her to be an extremely intelligent and fundamentally sensible individual, with a real passion for ensuring children get the best start in life. I hope she will use this approach to tackle the review which Sarah Teather, the Minister, has appointed her to run. Even better, perhaps she will manage to throw into the mix the crucial fact that the EYFS itself is not our major problem in the childcare sector, but that the elephant in the corner is the Single Funding Formula; if this is not resolved properly and swiftly, there will not be many childcare providers left to deliver the EYFS, however it is amended.

The recent budget certainly contains mixed fortunes for families and businesses. There are definitely some good points for businesses, with promises of reduction of red tape and definite reduction of corporation tax.

For parents, it is less straightforward, with some good news, but also a fair amount of cuts. The Government will uphold the plan to offer 15 years free early education from this September, which we had all been nervous about, as we have been busy recently working out how we would offer this entitlement to all our 3 and 4 year olds. However, family tax credits have been cut, which will hurt many working parents and Child Benefit is frozen for 3 years. Many of the pregnancy-related payments have gone, but at least Employer Childcare Vouchers will continue, after having a last-minute reprieve from the last administration.

We are all expecting it to be another tough year, with the public sector cuts that are inevitable having an impact on communities at large. However, as a business we have tried to look really hard at how we can be more efficient, and to cut our costs wherever possible, so that we can try and peg fees as much as we can. It is likely to be a few months before we all get a clearer picture of where further cuts will fall, but as a sector, we are hoping to carry on providing a great service to all our customers, to allow you to carry on with your busy lives and juggle the demands of family and work. Let’s hope that hard working families really are seen as a priority by this Government, but only time will tell.

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