January 2022 Parenta magazine

Childcare
news & views
Inequalities have worsened
during pandemic: Child of the
North report
A report published by the Northern Health
Science Alliance, Child of the North:
Building a fairer future after Covid-19
paints a bleak picture, caused by chronic
underfunding in the North of England.
Ofsted releases updated
Education Inspection
Framework
On 15th December, Ofsted updated its
inspection framework (EIF) to reflect the
new EYFS framework which came into
force in September.
In the updated guidance, the following
questions are answered in more detail:
• “Will Ofsted expect providers to show
the progress of a child tracked against
the revised non-statutory guidance,
‘Development matters?”
• “Will Ofsted prefer to see paper
assessments rather than those
recorded electronically?”
• “How will Ofsted inspect the
curriculum? Do registered providers
need to produce a curriculum map?”
• “How will inspectors consider
progress?”
• “Does Ofsted expect practitioners to
use the government’s non-statutory
guidance, Development matters,
when developing and shaping their
curriculums?”
• “When carrying out deep dives,
will inspectors want to see national
curriculum subjects, rather than EYFS
areas of learning, being taught in
Reception?”
• “Does Ofsted expect the national
curriculum in a primary school to start
when children first join in the early
years?”
You can read the full story, as reported by
Early Years Leadership here, and you can
read “Ofsted EIF inspections and the EYFS”
on the official government website here.
Read the full article here at parenta.com.
Toddlers struggling with
sharing post-pandemic
Ofsted has revealed that observations that
were made during November showed
that many two- and three-year-olds are
struggling with social skills, like sharing
and taking turns, post pandemic.
Two-year-olds - who have spent nearly
80% of their life in the Covid pandemic -
and babies of 18 months who have lived
their whole life in it, are often displaying
different characteristics to those who
started attending early years settings
before the pandemic.
This has been caused by (unsurprisingly)
lockdowns and reduced availability
of parent and toddler groups which
resulted in these children having a lack
of interaction outside their close family.
With limited social interaction at home
during the pandemic, children struggled
to settle with unfamiliar people, were
more wary, shyer, quieter, and some were
overwhelmed in larger groups. Inspectors
also found that the language and
communication skills of children born in
the pandemic were not as strong as those
that nurseries had cared for in the past.
On a brighter note, however, findings
published in Ofsted’s report also revealed
children soon grew in confidence in
nurseries and became more comfortable.
Ofsted reports that this ‘suggests that
there is no long-term negative impact on
children’s ability to settle into childcare’.
Ofsted has currently halted all nursery
inspections due to the threat posed by the
Omicron variant and the rising number of
Covid cases in nurseries.
You can read the full story, as reported by
daynurseries.co.uk, here.
Read the full article here at parenta.com.
Inequalities which were in existence
before Covid have since deepened, with
children in the North East, North West and
Yorkshire and Humber being affected
disproportionately. They now have poorer
educational outcomes which authors of
the report predict will affect their lifetime
incomes.
Due to frequent lockdowns in some
local areas, compared to the rest of
the country, children in those areas lost
more education. Their health and mental
well-being has also consequently been
impacted.
The report states this must be addressed
by a child-first place-based recovery plan
and recommendations include:
• Tackle the negative impacts of the
pandemic in the North through rapid,
focussed investment in early years
services, including health visiting,
family hubs and children’s centres.
• Commissioners of maternity and
early years services must consider the
impact of pandemic related service
changes on inequalities in families
and children’s experiences and
outcomes.
• Increase child benefit by £10 per child
per week. Increase the child element
in Universal Credit and increase child
tax credits.
• Support educational settings to initiate
earlier interventions. Teachers and
early years professionals see many
of the first indicators of children’s risk
and vulnerabilities.
• Prioritising strong pupil and staff
relationships and collaboration with
parents/carers will ensure a firm
foundation for meeting children’s
needs, and for a return to learning.
Read the full report here and read the
story, as reported by the BBC here.
Read the full article here at parenta.com.
Ofsted report: 98% still good
or outstanding but more recent
inspection concerns
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector Amanda
Spielman has launched Ofsted’s Annual
Report 2020-21. The report covered the
year to September 2021 during which the
Inspectorate carried out fewer inspections
than normal due to closures and
restrictions.
Although 98% of nurseries and preschools
still remain judged as good (76%)
or outstanding (22%) there are concerns
about the numbers of childcare providers
leaving Ofsted’s register.
Childcare places have reduced by about
1% of the total numbers of places the
previous year.
Another big concern highlighted in
the report was that 44% of early years
providers believe children’s personal,
social and emotional development had
fallen behind. This was particularly strong
in in areas of deprivation where it was
reported there was lower take-up of twoyear-old
places.
Purnima Tanuku OBE, Chief Executive
of National Day Nurseries Association
(NDNA), said: “This Ofsted report rightly
acknowledges the key role that early years
settings and their workforce have played in
supporting our youngest children through
such a tough year with the harmful effects
of closures and restrictions.
“We are hearing from early years providers
how they have worked with children who
have displayed challenging behaviours at
nursery. Their well-being and support with
their language skills and personal, social
and emotional development have been
critical.
It’s a great tribute to our nurseries that
despite the negative impacts from
the pandemic, 98% are still judged as
being good or outstanding. However,
we are concerned by the trend in recent
inspections. It is vital that inspectors
recognise the challenges that nurseries still
face and the stress that staff are under on
a daily basis. Due to ongoing measures
and staff absences, nurseries are very
different places compared to pre-pandemic
times. Ofsted must review its complaints
and appeals procedure to make sure that
complaints are treated fairly.
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, we
were reporting that staffing recruitment
and retention had hit crisis levels but the
pandemic has made this situation even
worse. It’s important that this is recognised
by Ofsted. There is therefore a question
about how everyone in the sector, from
Government to Ofsted can put measures
in place to support nurseries to retain staff
and to encourage more people into the
profession.
Children must be at the heart of
educational recovery efforts, starting with
early years. That’s why we need to see a
clear reform of the early education and care
policy and a funding system that is built to
deliver this.”
Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman,
said: “In order to protect older generations,
we asked the youngest generation to
put their lives and education on hold. As
we look forward to the year ahead, we
must strive to redress the balance. Every
generation gets one chance to enjoy its
childhood and fulfil its potential. We must
do all we can to make sure this generation
is not denied its opportunity.”
Read the full report here and read the full
story, as reported by NDNA here.
Read the full article here at parenta.com.
4 January 2022 | parenta.com
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