4 Reasons Why Childcare Has To Improve

According to the latest results released by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (or OFSTED) 4% of childminders, nurseries and creche facilities were deemed as inadequate for inspections carried out between April 2006 and March 2007.

The good news of course is that 96% of childcare providers inspected were deemed as adequate or better with 3% rated as outstanding, 54% good and 39% satisfactory.

However for the 4% of childcare providers in the Getting on Well: Enjoying, Achieving and Contributing report who were judged to provide inadequate childcare some of the reasons citied for their rating included:

1. Insufficient range of toys and activities, so that children wander aimlessly

2. Adults with lack of knowledge of how to guide children's learning

3. Lack of regular observation

4. Lack of opportunities to engage children's interest

5. Poorly-organised environment

Another piece of good news from the report seems to be that once a childcare facility has been rated as inadequate steps are often put in place to bring it up to a satisfactory standard. This is highlighted by the fact that inspectors returned to almost 300 childcare providers who were previously deemed as unsatisfactory and upon re-inspection 85% of these had improved.

Clearly however the bad news is that 4% is 4% too many when it comes to inadequate childcare and therefore OFSTED, the Government and Childcare providers are working together to make sure standards improve.

The fact is most childcare facilities are run extremely well with hard working, dedicated and totally professional staff who love what they do and are good at their job. For the 4% of nurseries, childminders and crèches who remain unsatisfactory lessons could certainly be learnt from the vast majority who do such an excellent job in educating and looking after our children.

And for the good of our society as a whole it is imperative that standards amongst carers and educators of children continue to improve. This is because research shows that there is in many cases a direct link between high quality early years learning and care and improved intellectual, social and behavioural development in the future.

Mark Burdett, Marketing Manager of The UK Nursery Insurance Brokers Northern Counties had this to say about OFSTED’s latest results, “We provide Nursery Business Insurance and other types of Business Insurance to many different types of childcare providers and what strikes me most is how hard people in the childcare industry actually work. It is clear that if 4% of childcare providers aren’t meeting certain standards then improvements will need to be made but I don’t think the vast majority of parents should feel the need to unduly worry as the childcare facilities in the UK are amongst, if not the, best in the world.”

Mark went on to add, “Northern Counties provide protection and peace of mind in the form of Nursery Insurance and I know the vast majority of childcare providers are also doing all they can to make sure the children in their care are happy, safe and develop in the right way.”

Childrens Safety in the Education & Childcare Industries

Whether you are a parent or not most people would I’m sure agree that a child’s safety is paramount. This article looks at what our childcare providers can do to help make sure the risk or chance of an accident occurring in Schools, Nurseries, Kindergartens and Day Care Centres is reduced.

Before we look at what steps childcare providers can actually take to reduce exposure to risk we should first perhaps look at what risk actually is. Risk can be defined as a hazard, a source of danger, the possibility of incurring a loss or misfortune or put another way an accident waiting to happen.

So what can Nurseries, Schools and other childcare providers actually do then to manage risk and make sure our children’s safety is always at the forefront of their minds?

Well to begin with they can carry out a risk assessment at their premises and this is perhaps best organized, arranged and co-coordinated by the person who is ultimately responsible for the health and safety at the nursery or school.

And whilst the actually risk assessment doesn’t necessarily have to be complicated it can be time consuming as it involves looking at each area of the premises and noting any potential hazards or risks. It also should involve looking at the existing safety measures in place and make recommendations on how implementing additional safety measures could reduce these risks even further.

The fact is accidents do happen in nurseries, schools and in all types of business but by following some simple checks the chances of an accident happening can be reduced. And as the owner, manger or person responsible for health and safety has a duty of care to employees, children, visitors or indeed anyone visiting the premises risk assessment and ultimately risk reduction is vital.

Here are just a few areas that nurseries, schools and other childcare providers should be looking at to firstly see if a risk exists and then to put preventative measures in place to reduce it.

Trips, slips and falls – do you have leads trailing across the floor or any other obstructions? Are there any spillages of water or any other liquids? And if so what steps are there to address these once they occur and to warn others? Are there any loose rugs, mats, carpets or other flooring including floorboards or tiles? Is the lighting within the school or nursery adequate (especially on stairs and in cellars or basements)?

First Aid and Accidents – do you have suitable first aid equipment on the premises? Do you have employees with first aid training? Do you have systems in place to deal with accidents including transport arrangement to the hospital if deemed necessary?

Safety of Personnel – are staff likely to work alone or handle cash? Do they have a facility to summon assistance and raise an alarm?

Outside Areas – will your outside play areas be adequately supervised? Has the play equipment you provide been suitably tested and is suitable for the children using it? Will the children be playing near plants that could be poisonous? Do you have systems in place to prevent or deal with sunburn and insect bites and stings?

These are just a few examples of potential risks that may exist within a nursery, school, kindergarten or other child day care facility. If you make sure you carry out a risk assessment with the intention of reducing your exposure to risk not only can you make sure your employees and children are protected but you could also see a reduction in your nursery insurance, school insurance or other business insurance premiums. This is because many insurance providers reward providers of child care facilities with discounts and premium savings who have good risk management procedures.

There really is no excuse for modern nurseries, schools and kindergartens to fail to make sure their premises is as safe as possible so make sure you do your best to protect the children in your care – failing to do so really isn’t worth the risk.

Is the BBC bucking the trend with its Nursery closures?

In light of the recent news that the BBC will be saving more than £4 million by the closure of its workplace nurseries this article looks at if this fate is likely to hit more nurseries or if the BBC is bucking the trend.

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the BBC’s decision to spend the £4.1 million saved from nursery closures on programming or not, the closure of 7 subsidised nurseries would at first glance appear to be against the norm.

In fact closing of nurseries would appear to be the complete opposite of what is actually required if figures available from the likes of the Department of Education (DfES) are to be believed. Figures such as:

1. The proportion of 3 and 4 year olds in nurseries and pre school education in the UK has risen by nearly 45% since 1970 (in 1970-71 it was 21% compared to 65% in 2003/04)

2. The number of nurseries in the UK continues to rise with now close to 15,000 nurseries

3. There are nearly 1.5 million child care places in the UK with an average of 46 places available per nursery

So with figures such as these combined with people working longer hours, more women working longer than ever (45% of women work over 40 hours a week) and a seemingly lack of childcare providers the trend would in fact be towards more nursery staff, more nursery places and more nurseries.

And of course with an increase in nurseries come with it the need for more service providers to the education and nursery sectors. Included in these will be insurance brokers who specialise in nursery insurance like Northern Counties Insurance Brokers.

So then if you own, manage or run a nursery and you agree that the future for UK nurseries looks good then look no further than Northern Counties for all your Nursery Insurance needs or simply visit http://www.northerncounties.com/nursery-insurance.php for request a quick nursery insurance quote from their website.

Northern Counties – The UK’s Nursery Insurance Broker