Last Saturday morning saw 29 members of The Old Station Nursery team rolling around in hysterics, despite early starts and the fact that it was actually Saturday morning and they were technically working. So, what was the cause? A certain gentleman by the name of Neil Griffiths, whom I heard speaking at the NDNA conference in June and decided would be a great person to inspire our staff. Neil is a passionate advocate of reading and books and made the transition from primary school head (lucky children!) to become the inventor of story sacks and a guru on sharing books with children.

Neil started the day (after a very humourous introduction) by telling us that currently in the UK 1 in 4 children never have a book read to them at home. Even for those of us who think ‘that’s not me’, I bet many of us are guilty of saying ‘hurry up and choose a book’ or complaining at reading the same story for the umpteenth time?  Reading with a child can be such a pleasure and by treating books as something special and something to be treasured, we can inspire a love of reading in our children. At nursery we have the same opportunity to inspire young minds, so Neil challenged us all to think again about how read to children in our group settings, and how to make it a really exciting experience.

One of the cardinal sins we became aware of is to be a reading snob. If Heat magazine is your thing, then be proud of it! It doesn’t have to be a Charles Dickens novel to interest a child, and if they see you reading regularly and with pleasure, they will also see reading as an enjoyable pass time and something to be enjoyed, rather than a school based activity that they have to do. All of you who have endured the tales of ‘Chip, Biff and Kipper’ in the school book bag will know that a dull book read because you have to, can be a massive turn off. Instead, embrace what your child is interested in, be it bugs, diggers, fairies or Peppa Pig!

Have a look at our Facebook Page to see how Neil inspired our staff from Faringdon, Filkins, Benson and Innsworth and do ask them to tell you more about it. We hope to run the same training in the Lincoln area shortly, but in the meantime, do have a look at Neil’s website if you’d like some great reads to enjoy with your children. www.cornertolearn.co.uk

Over the last week there has been yet more discussion in the media about the possible detrimental effect of babies under 2 being placed in nurseries. I was incensed to hear one interviewee explaining that ‘being cared for by strangers’ could lead to a rise in the stress hormone, cortisol, in babies under 2 years old. The whole point of good quality childcare is that the relationship between baby and carer is strengthened and developed; the key person system involves just that, the individual child having a named carer who carries out all personal care and gets to know the child really well. I would hate to think that any of the babies in our nurseries are cared for by ’strangers’ - how often do we get lovely comments from parents who feel that the nursery staff become a part of their extended family?

The discussion this time arose from an article on the website of controversial psychologist Aric Sigman. He quotes studies showing that cortisol levels rise in children in daycare up until they are 3 years old. However, he also said that only mum could counteract this, so babies cared for by fathers, grandparents or other carers could also suffer from stress. http://www.aricsigman.com/

A welcome opposing view (for all mums who occasionally need to be parted from their babies for whatever reason) comes from Professor Dorothy Bishop, from Oxford University, who questions whether stress is detrimental to children’s development. She suggests that mild levels of stress can be good for development and provides increased resilience. http://oscci.psy.ox.ac.uk/people/dorothy-bishop

Whatever your view, or that of the academics, the fact is clear that parents do need day care (or childminders or grandparents) to help them to juggle their busy lives, so surely we all need to work as hard as possible in developing close relationships with the children in our care. We need to constantly reflect on the environment in which we care for babies and reduce any factors which can cause stress. At The Old Station Nursery Group we have worked with baby expert Mary Barlow, to create the most homely environments possible for our under 2s in particular. We don’t have a ’sleep room’ but a bedroom, and where possible have a comfortable chair in there with a box of books and a little lamp, so that feeds can be given as they would be at home, before a quiet sleep.

Day care is here to stay, so let’s use this academic research to help us to improve our practice, rather than giving parents yet another guilt trip!

Yesterday there was a frenzy of discussion on the radio and television around the high cost of childcare, following publication of a report by Save the Children and the Day Care Truststating that the costs of childcare were leaving many families in debt.  I spoke to Phil Watts on Radio 5 Live, along with Neil Leitch, head of the Pre-School Learning Alliance and fended off the usual questions about how could childcare be so expensive and surely we were all making a fortune at the expense of hard-up parents. Both Neil and I were quick to point out that many nurseries either barely break even, or in the most disadvantaged areas where the PLA operate nurseries, many are subsidised by other fund raising activities.

We all recognise that childcare fees are a huge cost for parents, but in the UK, where the Government does not see Early Years care as a high priority, parents have to pay the majority of fees. As a nursery provider, we see about 70p in every pound paid by parents go directly out on salaries, so with the running costs of the buildings rising for us, as for every household, the scope to be financially viable is ever more challenging. Yes, in some areas nurseries can charge a premium and have waiting lists for places, but it is far more common for a lot of nurseries to be working hard to increase occupancy and reduce costs, whilst paying staff a fair wage.

There are many things that could be done to help reduce the cost of childcare, including a review of business rates for nursery buildings, which are currently charged in the same bracket as retail premises. Nursery businesses still pay VAT on new builds, whereas school premises don’t. Employer childcare vouchers have been reduced to only cover lower rate tax payers, leaving the ’squeezed middle’ who may be paying a large percentage of salary on childcare fees wtihout any help. Tax credits have been reduced, which certainly hurts those on the lowest incomes.  All in all, it is a bleak picture out there, with many parents considering whether it is worth going back to work at all.

The report published yesterday calls for the Government to ensure a minimum of 80% childcare costs are covered under Universal Credit up to current weekly limits and that over time this be increased to 100%.  We all know that in the current economic climate there are limited funds to go round, but if we want to support parents in returning to work and keeping their heads above water financially until their children go to school, we will have to think hard as a society about how we can do this.

To read the full report, visit www.daycaretrust.org.uk

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