Not so long ago, David Stevens, Manager of the Angel Nursery, which for a while had 4 male staff out of a team of five, represented us at the Men in Childcare conference in Edinburgh. He had already been to the Men in Childcare Network Ireland International Conference, where he was the only UK representative and had to cope with the high jinks of the Irish and the Danes and the Scots! Enough said. Since then he has become even more interested in why there should be men in childcare and constantly urges me not to take it off the radar.

David and I have long questioned the actual reasons for having men in childcare. We are less than impressed by the standard responses we hear across the sector. The usual reasons trotted out are all about fear and barriers to entry. These include poor pay, lack of promotion opportunities, poor status, fear of accusations of abuse and paedophilia, discomfort working in such a highly female work environment and an expectation that one man can address the shortfall of positive male roles in so many children’s lives. Reading that would you want to come into childcare?

David feels all of this detracts from the main question which is “Do you want to work with children?” When speaking to our male LEYFstaff (of which there are 8% of the workforce) we found that they had all come into childcare because they thought they could be good Early Years Practitioners. For them being a sole man in a nursery was probably the biggest barrier and so we now try and place two men in each nursery, though this is not always possible. Generally, the men working at LEYF were both annoyed and depressed that all the talk of men in childcare became negative and focused on barriers to entry. Many reiterated that they always wanted to work with small children and that what we should be looking for is men who want to work with small children because they are interested in child development and how children learn and they think they have the ability to give them a really fun and exciting experience. The same argument or scenario does not play out in the Primary Schools as men ride up glass elevators to senior management and headteacher positions before you can say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

David has been involved with some very interested organisations drawn together by the Daycare Trust with the support of the DfE. However unlike Europe where Manner in Kitas received 14 million euros for theory based research into the benefit of men in childcare we are doing this on the usual barter and free gratis approach. Europe is also focusing on gender and equality issues which I think would be interesting and avoid us falling into the usual knee-jerk response that until men really take a hold in childcare we will see no improvements in pay or status. How depressing is that for a female led sector? What is needed is for the whole sector to be understood by the public and that policy makers help shape policies which assist the public to understand what we do… yes it’s more than smiling, washing hands and being patient while our male colleagues play really good rough and tumble while acting as surrogate uncle to all the children in female led families!

So here is what we are going to do:

1. Set up a London Men in Childcare Network beginning by bringing the LEYF male staff together to discuss the issues and formulate a shape.
2. Find out areas to research including David’s big question which asks us to compare the levels of physical and superhero play in nurseries with and without male colleagues? Then examine the impact that has on boys and girls play. Does it make a difference to their development?
3. Use Men in Childcare website set up by Kenny Spence to post new information.
4. Work more with our local Schools and Academies to promote men into childcare both through our apprenticeship programme but also as part of the schools careers options. (I feel a film coming on…)
5. Seek more engagement from parents in the issue. Get a sense of their views about the promotion of the role of men as carers and educators of children. I read recently that parents use blogs as their main source of information.  LEYF parents, have a look at this!

Men in Childcare is one aspect of a much bigger question which is what is the role of men in our society today? It’s certainly changing at different social, economic and political levels so let’s weave this into a much more comprehensive debate.

When the weather is raining and grey, I often like to go to see a film in the afternoon.  It beats drinking tea in front of the box, watching the insipid couples on property programmes or the madness of Come Dine with Me. So last Saturday I checked the internet to see what was local and I found The Angels’ Share.

It was film recommended to me by Detective Inspector John Carnochan who heads up the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit.  He spoke at our Staff Conference last year on the recommendation of Alice Sharp who heard him speak in Glasgow and was blown away by his stories.  Staff still talk about his story of David which shows how the system fails a young boy from a very troubled background and how the intergenerational cycle is reaffirmed by the system rather than dismantled.  It was probably the same conversation that got our Prime Minister thinking about those 120,000 troubled families. (His mistake may have been letting celebrity culture influence his choice of Family Czar… that’s another story though!)

Directed by Ken Loach (always a good sign), the film focused on Robbie who came from a rough family and was roaming the streets of Glasgow causing drug-fuelled violence and havoc.  The film showed graphically why so many young people turn bad and how there are so few routes out.  Robbie is intelligent and has three pieces of good luck which he uses sensibly.  First he falls in love with a good girl and she has his baby.  Having produced this baby she introduces him to Robbie with the words…

The midwife says only half his brain is formed and the other half depends on what we do over the next few years… Robbie we have to do good for him and if you won’t help I will have to do this on my own.

What a fantastic insight into the stuff we in Early Years call brain development and making good synaptic connections!

The second piece of good luck was that the judge did not imprison him for a violent crime because of his relationship with the girl, and sent him to Community Payback where he met Harry (no nothing to do with Sally).  Harry was one of those salt of the earth, warm, caring community workers who are sadly quite rare, but when around have the potential to make a huge difference. He introduced him to human warmth and the kind of adult relationships Camilla Batmanghelidjh from Kids Company advocates, because she is convinced the right relationship with an adult can repair and  strengthen synaptic connections in young people, and help them form the sort of trusting relationships they need to sustain them throughout life.

Finally, Robbie found he had a talent: he had a brilliant nose for whiskey, and here lies the Angel Share.  But I’ve already said too much, as this is the heart of the film and you really need to see it. Suffice to say, he ended up with a job and somewhere to live out of his neighbourhood. The group then said goodbye, and the parting shot was that all you need is someone to love, a job and somewhere to live. I can’t help but wonder why in 2012 that is so hard to achieve for so many?

In this film, Ken Loach pours politics, comedy and drama into a whiskey glass and flavours it with the possibilities that come from generosity of spirit. As such, I strongly recommend it as a teaching tool for anyone learning to work with children, and will make sure that all LEYF apprentices have this on their syllabus. I also hope they too leave us singing the chorus of the classic Proclaimers anthem I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles). To start you off…

But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at your door

I am a nervous passenger generally, but my anxiety rises to a whole new level when we go on the motorway.

My coping mechanism is to work on my computer to avoid spending the whole journey gripped in a panic that we are about to crash into the lorry ahead. The upside is that I get time to trawl through my documents and keep calm. Meanwhile, the driver (usually my husband) is able to concentrate on the road, rather than having to continually threaten to throw me out. The downside is that I come across speeches, articles and blog entries which all smack of Déjà Vu.

This week was a case in point, as I found myself preparing a speech on leadership in the sector and a presentation for some funds to help us grow the business. As I began the process by finding similar speeches for inspiration, I was shocked to discover so many of the issues facing us today were exactly the same as far back as 2007. I know they say that change takes time, but this seems excessively slow.

So I thought it might serve as a fun game, as we head into the Jubilee-free weekend, to remind ourselves of the state of play and key issues back then, to see how much if anything has changed:

• Universal child care was inadequately funded
• It was felt that children should not go to school aged four (a sentiment supported by the Children and Young People Select Committee and National Primary Headteachers Association)
• Ofsted was looking at its approach to inspection
• I was arguing that Children’s Centres should be a hub for intergenerational work, with young and old learning together and developing relationships that could help achieve community cohesion
• We were awaiting a Government re-shuffle
• A Two Year Old Pilot was in discussion
• Unhappy economic times were beginning, and talk of solutions and sustainability were beginning to quietly emerge
• We had just taken our first group of apprentices called NEETs
• Action for Children and New Economics Foundation produced a fascinating report called Backing the Future, setting out a plan to save the UK taxpayer £486 billion over 20 years and dramatically improve social wellbeing
• According to economic analyst Rob Grunewald, (video here), if Government invested substantially in parenting and enriched daycare, they could expect a rate of return (in monetary terms) of between 3:1-7:1, and 17:1 by the time the child reaches 21years. He explained that social benefits were also significant, with a reduction in crime and prison, better educational attainment, healthier adults and reduced levels of obesity and a reduction in welfare dependency
• The Cambridge Primary Review was challenging the notion of school readiness in their final report, reminding us of what Froebel said 250 years before – namely that Early Years was not a time to merely prepare for school, but a distinct phase to be celebrated and enjoyed in its own right
• Remaining stubbornly high, child poverty was on the rise despite all attempts to reduce it – including provision of flexible work opportunities, training, childcare, improved incentives and investment in child benefit
• Limited funds were available to provide a quality workforce, including employing many more graduates
• Transitions to school were an issue

Peter Drucker said that management has no choice but to anticipate the future. Well then, we better start looking at the past, because the blueprint is already there. And as a leader, it’s probably wise to get organisations fit to manage the continual challenges that are not easily solved and are more entrenched than we could possibly imagine. Learning from experience is not enough.

Therefore, I’d suggest that one solution may be to create a learning organisation that can flex and re-shape, according to both the fast and slow pace of change. Consider the following ten steps, and maybe in this instance a bit of repeat, recall and déjà vu will be a good thing:

• Learning is incorporated into everything people do
• Learning for learning’s sake is encouraged and celebrated
• Teamwork, creativity, empowerment and quality are fully supported
• Staff are trusted and encouraged to choose and take decisions
• People with different job titles learn together
• Coaching relationships are promoted to enhance learning
• Learning is an integral part of meetings, work groups and work processes
• Everyone in the organisation has equal access to learning
• Mistakes are embraced as learning opportunities
• Cross-training is encouraged and staff that learn a broad range of skills rewarded
• Continuous learning is considered a shared core value of the organisation

Do you agree with the above?  Let me know what you think in the space below.

I am very pleased to be able to represent LEYF as a member of Professor Cathy Nutbrown’s Expert Panel. The Panel is examining the standard and range of qualifications for those working in Early Years settings.  It’s a hot topic and one that needs calm, rational and measured consideration.  It’s also an issue that powerfully demonstrates that rhetoric and good intentions don’t always translate well into practice, and no solution will be perfect.  And it further requires a steady and pragmatic hand which Cathy certainly has.

Before anyone gets excited about being called an expert, the actual reality of being on a panel is that you are expected to do some work and research an issue or two.  At the last meeting, I agreed to examine the question of whether it is necessary for those entering the profession to have a grade C in GCSE Maths and English. In order to do it justice, I sought some support from my friend Sue, who put her considerable research skills to good use finding out whether or not having these grades leads to better teaching of the subjects, higher thinking skills and greater ability to apply abstract concepts in a range of situations. I also needed to know that if having a Grade C was essential, could we get everyone up to that standard through Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and would it create barriers to potential apprentices, trainees and other staff from diverse communities.

What we found was that although research from OECD and EPPE tells us that higher qualified staff offer a more reliable predictor of better quality – with a more positive impact on children’s future learning and development as a result – there is little data to securely support the correlation between the levels of formal qualifications in literacy and numeracy among Early Years practitioners and children’s achievements. The best we could find was the Millennium Cohort Study which stressed the links between quality of provision in a setting, the level of qualifications of the staff and the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) analysed by subject, concluding that…

Continued priority needs to be given to strengthening the non-graduate early years workforce, who continue to make up the majority of staff. All practitioners need to have a clear grasp of how children’s understanding of mathematics develops; they need to be comfortable with mathematical language and able to support children’s play as outlined in the previous section on effective mathematical pedagogy.” Milleniun Cohort Study

The most interesting findings emphasised something our tutor for Key Skills previously said, namely how the psychological barrier people have created about Maths is often the greater hurdle to them getting a grade C.  I recently saw this in action among a group of otherwise experienced LEYF staff who needed to get a grade C in Maths as part of their degrees; the level of anxiety this generated, despite us providing specialist workshops, was such that even a chocolate fest could not reduce the waves of panic in the room. (Not even the promise of our favourite Curly Wurly!) The lack of enthusiasm for Maths, often acquired from poor teaching, creates a self perpetuating cycle which flies in the face of the Williams Review(DCSF 2008a) which found that…

One of the distinctive features that support high quality mathematical learning includes practitioners’ enthusiasm for, understanding of, and confidence in, mathematics.” Williams Review

For those of us running nursery businesses, the lack of mathematical confidence has greater implications, given the need to grasp Maths in action through an ability to understand and manage occupancy, staff deployment, pricing and basic income and expenditure; all critical skills needed to keep the business going.  (Sadly, I have seen far too many nurseries slip into disaster because of the manager’s inability to read the numbers.) And I know this statement will send Hitchcock shivers down the spines of some LEYF staff, in fact I’m sure most would much rather sit through the Director’s Cut of Psycho in a dark room on their own than do the books.

But if we see our job in Early Years as being the educators of the youngest children, and therefore needing to inculcate in them positive attitudes about Maths and literacy (especially Maths), then we have to look at the bigger picture and the costs to society. The CBI Education and Skills Survey 2011 reported that employers found widespread weaknesses in the core skills of their employees, with almost half reporting problems with literacy and numeracy. KPMG estimates that the cost to the public purse each year from failure to master basic numeracy skills is up to £2.4 billion.

So what to do? Luckily I am not Cathy Nutbrown, and my task was to merely present ideas and information, whilst Cathy gets to analyse and draw a conclusion.  Still, she is ably assisted by our Civil Servants, who I am sure have all the relevant C grades. In the meantime, I suggest we all ensure we have regular planned Maths activities, lots of Maths in the routine and that we practise our timetables while we do our Pilates.  If all fruit fails then watch Dara O Briain’s School of Hard Sums (formerly called ‘Dara O Briain’s University of Practical Mathematics’) where humour and numbers mix. Why not? Have a laugh, do a sum!

My Grandmother always said that a little of what you fancy does you good. Sadly, according to recent medical press, we are all too often unable to stop at a little and these days consume far too much of what we fancy. As a result, we are fast becoming one of the most overweight nations in the world, with all the health issues that accompany such obesity. Every week it seems there is a new report about the damaging effect of some familiar sugar laden food – the most recent being a link made between aggressive behaviour and fizzy drinks, and their tendency to heighten the risk of heart disease.

Of course, Children are particularly at risk, and given that prevention is better than a cure, I began to look at how nurseries might do their part to educate children and families about food by serving the best. Interestingly, despite all the TV coverage gained by Jamie Oliver with his admirable campaign to rid our schools of turkey twisslers, he rarely focused on the chefs and cooks actually preparing and serving the foods (aside from Nora, his trusty dinner lady). No effort was made to look into the qualifications available for chefs, which could be used to up the ante and go some way to ensuring and embedding high quality procurement, preparation, presentation and delivery of food to children, while also informing staff and parents of what makes healthy eating.

The history of chefs and cooks in both nurseries and schools tells a random tale, from those simply helping out as an interested parent to an agency chef from a local restaurant. Either way, most nursery staff will tell you that having a good chef – one who likes cooking for children and is both interested and motivated – is a joy and sadly not as commonplace as we would like!

When I began my research, what I soon found (though on a smaller scale) was not dissimilar to what Professor Cathy Nutbrown found about Early Years qualifications: a myriad of organically developed courses of varied quality with no core set of standards. The situation for chefs was worse inasmuch as there were generic qualifications which taught the basics, but no effort made to develop anything that would apply their knowledge to cooking specifically for children. CPD courses tended to focus on health and safety, food safety and manual handling – which though relevant did not lead to better teas and sauces or greater motivation and knowledge about what children love to eat.

Driven by this baffling discovery, I searched out individuals with similar interests and found a group of nutritionists, dieticians and others passionate to improve the food experience for small children. (At this point, the School Food Trust was focused unsurprisingly on schools, so Early Years had not been given any attention at all – despite national fears about obesity and heart disease amongst the young as a direct result of their awful diet.)

When I then surveyed the sector – including colleagues in Wales and Scotland – to see if there was any interest in a qualification for chefs in Early Years, the  overwhelmingly positive response that came back led me to dip my toe into the deep and mysterious waters of national standards and qualifications development. And quite frankly, given the complexity of process and language, I am amazed so many qualifications exist! Fortunately for me, People 1st (the skills sector for hospitality) and City and Guilds fully understood what I was after and so supported my efforts – especially useful, since my learning curve included regular viewing of Master Chef, Saturday Kitchen and Two Hairy Bikers. (I liked these most of all, particularly as they could rustle up a good curry by the side of the road – no Curly Wurly breakfasts for them!)

On Monday, 19 March (tomorrow, as I write this), we hope to take the final step on the long ladder of getting approval of the draft National Standards in order to formulate a set of Level 3 Qualifications in Professional Cooking for Early Years Chefs. We will present the key elements of a qualification to employers and will be sharing the same premise as Professor Nutbrown, namely that employers must be able to tell what skills and knowledge they can expect when employing someone with that qualification. It will include everything from basic knife skills to a real understanding of child nutrition.

At the very least, I sincerely hope this single step will be one more to help professionalise a growing industry which exists to provide a support service to children and their families, and in so doing will show yet another critical added value we have to offer society.

This week the chancellor announced that the government will extend the free entitlement of 15 hours of nursery education to every disadvantaged two-year-old over the next four years. This expansion will be funded by an additional investment of around £300 million per year so that by the end of 2015 about  40 per cent of all two year olds (130,000) will benefit from the new entitlement.

Good job for Mr. Osborne and a possible sop to many disenchanted women who are bearing quite a lot of the brunt of the ongoing economic slump.

The arrival of more two years olds under the free offer may be good news for many settings, especially as the grant for two year olds currently covers the real costs of provision, unlike the grant for the three and four year olds.

The rationale for providing places for those two year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds must be predicated on the research, showing how good quality childcare can improve the child’s life chances and pay dividends to the child, the family and society as a whole. It’s clearly an investment with a serious social return. Sarah Teather MP tells us that

Our priority is to increase social mobility by helping children from the poorest backgrounds in their earliest years. High quality early education is the key to making a difference early on in a child’s life. It’s crucial for their healthy development and means they’re not falling behind before they have even started primary school.

Sarah Teather MP

However, the most powerful words here are good quality. There is also a raft of research that demonstrates what good quality needs to look like, only it’s not always either interpreted or applied consistently. Ofsted still find that the lowest quality childcare remains in the poorest and most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. It’s shockingly unacceptable.

One aspect of quality is the ability to understand the developmental stages of children.  For two year olds this means recognizing and celebrating the twoness of two.  There has been an inclination to overly focus on education to the detriment of care (yes I know the two are integral, but I fear not everyone knows that!), pushing small children into an inappropriate and unsuitable curriculum or environment.  Two year olds are just recent babies, and this needs to be considered as we welcome them into our nurseries and help them become independent and confident little people. It’s a skilled and sensitive role for those adults working with this group of children, and one not to be underestimated.

The experiences children receive in their early years are crucial to overall brain development. When a child has an experience, connections are formed between brain cells; so the cells are dependent on experience to create these connections. After eight months a child exposed to a nurturing and stimulating environment may already have 1,000 trillion connections created; so again these connections physically grow and develop the brain.

As such, it is primarily the early experiences and warm and consistent parents, who cuddle and talk to their children and provide fun learning experiences, that largely determine the basic strength and function of the brain’s wiring system and so promote healthy brain development for their children. By contrast, babies who do not receive consistent and caring responses to their cries, or those whose cries are met with abuse, develop brain connections to prepare them to cope in that environment. As a result their ability to learn and respond to nurturing and kindness may be impaired.

The brain organizes through a ‘use it or lose it’ process: the brain eliminates or strengthens connections in an effort to become more efficient. So, experiences that are repeated frequently lead to brain connections that are retained. It is Repetition That Makes Strong Connections. And consistency is key. The brain feels comfortable when it knows what to expect. When children learn, through repetition, that a parent (or care provider) will be there for them when needed, they can relax and feel safe.

In short, providing loving interaction, adequate amounts of sleep, healthy nutrition, time playing outdoors, physical activity, lots of creative play and exploration contributes to a child with a healthy brain.

To further explore this crucial aspect of development in the early years, we are starting a working group of staff at LEYF who care for and really understand two year olds.  We have already learnt from the Two Year Old pilot that we need to set simple benchmark assessment, help people revisit their understanding of what it means to be two and figure out a way of engaging parents to better understand and support their two year olds at home. But we cannot stop there.

If you have any thoughts or specific experiences in relation to this topic, please do add your comments below.

I love a sense of connection and see the role of nurseries as being critical in helping to connect communities across the generations.

This week the history of connection came very much alive when we were visited by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, as she came to formally open the newly refurbished Bessborough Centre, of which our nursery has always been the heart. The royal connection was through the Queen Mother, who originally opened Bessborough nursery in 1937. She was also patron of London Early Years Foundation (first known as Westminster Health Society, then Westminster Children’s Society before becoming LEYF in 2009) until her death.

The Duchess was charming, relaxed and had no airs and graces.  I insisted on as many photos as possible for parents and staff, so we could make new connections and write a new story connecting the children and staff to a piece of local history.

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On Friday, we enjoyed our annual Staff Conference, this year entitled Building a Better Future: Making Every Experience Count. Held at the new Pimlico Academy, a stunning building full of space, light and glass, it played host to our first invited guest, Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan from the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit. A charming and eloquent speaker, he told us the story of David who, born to a mother with alcohol dependency, ended up arrested for murder aged 15 years. The theme of his talk to our staff was Early Intervention – and his 30 minutes could have easily extended to half a day!  His argument that Early Intervention is critical was powerful and passionate, as he reminded us how we all have a huge responsibility to make every experience count. His reference to relationships, nurture, brain development, parent engagement and communication picked up on all the key themes of the day, later reflected in the fantastic selection of workshops available to all 320 LEYF staff.  He certainly got my vote when he said that nurseries needed to be multi-generational if they are to engage some of the people that might have helped David avoid ending up in prison.

We had invited Michael Gove MP, the Secretary of State for Education to address the conference – and right up to the end we were unsure if he would make it!  He did however turn up, having been forced to cut short his half-term holiday with his children once already for a vote in the Commons.  Another eloquent speaker, Mr Gove was polished and professional in his delivery.  There were bits that were neutral enough to fit any audience, but he did specifically pick up on the importance of a qualified Early Years workforce, announcing the Nutbrown Review to examine the relevance of qualifications for Early Years staff. At one point he started to talk about school readiness (a concept which I worry can be too narrow and pushes little children into school too early), but he redeemed himself by saying there is a broad pedagogical philosophy within the sector, all of which has value once it helps children cope with our ever changing world.

He singled out the LEYF model as one he admired because of the way we ensure social mix and cultural capital, working hard to overcome disadvantage and poor practice, not least through the high ambitions we hold for our children. He concluded his speech with a cry for the kind of creativity found in the Neolithic caves of France his children were visiting that day. He alluded to evidence showing that many of the cave drawings were done by children, but instead of alone, with the guiding hands of adults.  He reverted to politician-type when answering the very sensible questions posed by LEYF staff, one of which raised the concern of how we support hard-working, independent and low paid two parent families now squeezed at every level and who make up the highest proportion of LEYF parents.  However, overall Mr Gove scored well – as the little clues that escaped all his professionalism to reveal his genuine concern and compassion finally won the day.

Head of HR at LEYF, Neil King is responsible for each year’s conference and always keeps a surprise back for the end of the day.  This time we had to build a rollercoaster!  Using IKEA type instructions and in groups  of six across three long rows, each team was tasked with constructing a section of a cardboard contraption that would enable a basketball to roll down and up and down (with no help…yeah, yeah!) to the end of each row into a cage, where the final force from the speed of the ball would release two helium balloons.  It was hysterical, as each group tried to understand how to complete their own individual tasks, let alone join them all together!  But the competitive LEYF spirit took over in the end, as everyone took it seriously – especially when certain teams tried to borrow or swop cardboard tubes.  Such a great way to end such a lively and rewarding day.

But the week did not end there, oh no!  Spending Friday racing back and forth between our Staff Conference and Earls Court, our Marketing & Communications Manager, Neil Hart spent the entire weekend with a rota of enthusiastic LEYF staff (as well as invaluable friends from iNHouse PR and Experiential Play) at the Baby Show.  For the first time this year, we were asking the countless new, experienced and to-be parents what they felt were the most important things they could do as parents to build a better future for their own children (as you can imagine many simple, profound and often hilarious ideas were submitted.. more of which once the results are in).

As parents reflected on this weighty question, our staff learned some of their concerns, and so were able to provide advice about going back to work and the right choice of childcare for them and their child.  At the same time, we were being given first hand indicators of where there might be a shortage of nurseries.  (Ealing and Oxford appeared to be most popular during my stint at the show, so must add these to our expansion plan.)

Meanwhile, everyone was given our brand new ‘LEYF Parent Reward Chart’.  The first of its kind ‘in the known universe..’ (so Neil assures me), this simple but ingeniously  designed check list aims to encourage and support parents in spending more time actually doing things with their children.

Elsewhere, wandering around the exhibition, I did have to wonder how on earth I ever gave birth to and reared three children without the range of accoutrements on offer across the myriad of stalls: every shape of cushion, buggy and nappy bag were available (and that’s just for starters). Still, among all the high tech buggies and Cath Kidston-type bags, I noticed that knitted blankets were popular – much to my relief, as finally I had found something that my own children had when they were small!

Finally, I am looking forward to seeing my official début on the Guardian’s Social Enterprise Network (Ed: now published here).  For my very first outing, I’m hopeful to see the argument prove sufficiently provocative to merit a retweet or two in cyberspace.  Back here on earth, it’s Sunday night and time I stopped working.

More importantly, time for TOWIE and a cup of tea.

This week I went to visit Dara Hogan at Fledglings Nurseries, part of An Cosán, a community organisation and charity in Tallaght, Co Dublin.  I was accompanied by Heather Fernandez, our lead Research Associate on social franchising, scaling and replication, with Middlesex University.

The term franchising freaks many people out because they associate it with aggressive, profit-focused commercial growth like McDonalds. Instead, I like the opportunity it presents as a business model with the potential to help replicate good, socially enterprising nurseries across the UK.  In doing so, many more children would benefit, more quickly and effectively, and greater strides could be taken toward eradicating child poverty; hence our research.

It is also the shared view of Dara Hogan who I met on a Scaling Up programme run by the School of Social Entrepreneurs in January this year.  He has set up five nurseries in this deprived part of Dublin, on the basis that good quality Early Years can help mitigate some of the worst aspects of social deprivation and potential educational failure.   Like me, he thinks franchising may be a good model to speed up the dissemination of good nurseries and touch the lives of many more children, and so he is in the process of growing the nursery group.

The Irish are renowned for their friendliness and hospitality and this was very evident during our visit.  We were taxied around Dublin by Denis, who gave us a guide to each locality and pointed out a range of areas of interest from a political and social perspective.  He could compete with London’s best Black Cab drivers with his knowledge of heritage sites in central Dublin.

Our programme of visits was wide and varied, but each person gave generously of their time and engaged in a way that made us feel we had something to offer them – although at times I could see their puzzlement, as we tried to understand the different ways we design and support similar services.

The social problems of Dublin and London are not dissimilar; drugs and alcohol abuse, unemployment, poverty and emotional deprivation are the issues of the day, and the people we visited are looking for solutions that work just as we are, solutions that can be scaled up and measured to show a benefit, both now and in the future.

Our two day visit began in Tallaght with a visit was to Breda at Barnardos. She runs a Government funded childcare and family support programme in a building down a littered windswept alley.  Her passion and enthusiasm was palpable, and she could link to the work being done in the UK through her daughter – an educational psychologist in Southwark who had been challenging her to dump the notion of school readiness in favour of ready schools.  It initiated an interesting philosophical debate. She was keen on giving a voice to the practitioner, whilst also finding a way to support free childcare for more two year olds.  I was pleased to be able to say that we were going to develop this in the UK as a result of a successful pilot.  She introduced me to Maria Aarts and Marte Meo and was as shocked that I had not heard of her as I was when she told me that Irish Barnardos were not in anyway connected to the UK charity.

Our second visit was to a very modern, architect designed building which housed the Childhood Development Initiative.  We were welcomed with a pot of tea by Grainne Smith and her colleagues Marguerite and Tara.  They are part of a commissioning and evaluation team developing childcare initiatives, funded by government and matched charity funds. We had a lively conversation about evaluations and randomised control trials of organisations and services with a heavy emphasis on evaluating process.  I was particularly intrigued to hear this, as it’s something I am keen to develop as part of our multi-generational project.

After a lunch which included homemade scones, we spoke to Jean Courtney who confirmed the importance of business skills among childcare providers in all sectors, but especially in areas where the continued success of nurseries and family support services is particularly needed by children.

Our last visit took us into the centre of Dublin, where we had a tremendously animated conversation with Beth Fagan who runs the Parent Child Home Programme  at the National College of Ireland.  She was passionate about helping parents apply learning in their homes, so we know it changes their beliefs, behaviour and attitude, and pointed us in the direction of much new reading.  It also led to a proposal for her colleague Aoife, who heads up the CPD programme, that we try and apply the same thinking when it comes to making sure we better embed and measure action learning in childcare settings – so we know the training and support we offer practitioners is actually embedded and applied consistently to ultimately change behaviour (a philosophy already very much embedded in the LEYF approach to learning and development).

Dara rounded off the long and fascinating visit with a dinner prepared by his good wife Mary.  It made me realise why hospitality needs to be a core value of any organisation looking to reach out and make a difference to those who feel alienated and isolated.

Our second day was spent at An Cosán, the umbrella charity which incubated the Fledglings idea.  Its main service is to provide training at all levels for local people, with a real emphasis on opportunities and learning for local women – so they were very hot on community leadership and ways of empowering women to develop their confidence and abilities.  Once again, the day was punctuated by hospitality and kindness – and more scones!  We learned a lot more about the importance of talking and extending ideas, as I had some passionate exchanges with their lively CEO Liz Waters.  It was a another great lesson in the importance of taking time out of the ordinary day to engage with other people; to stretch your thinking and learn something new.

I have just come back from a two day NDNA conference in Leeds, accompanied by two of our nursery officers – Audrey Grant from Lisson Green and Wendy Buckingham from Ford Road (and very good company they were too).

As you may have spotted from our comments recently in Nursery World, at LEYF we believe that attending and presenting at key conferences not only helps boost the organisation’s reputation, but is also and more importantly critical to personal development.

This particular conference presented many opportunities to extend thinking about our own practice, and Wendy and Audrey were both quick to analyse the value of the new ideas put forward and have gone off with some of that data to test in their own settings.

The conference was opened with a rousing overview from Purnima Tanuku, CEO of the NDNA, who set a positive and upbeat vibe for the day. She reminded us that the sector is not small beer, that we should be confident about the clout we have to create and sustain employment, as well as providing the means to enable parents to work and contribute to the economy. Purnima also showered us with facts which told an interesting story.  For example, did you know there are:

• 475,000 Early Years practitioners in the UK
• 360,000 in the PVI sector
• 73% of this workforce are Level 3 qualified
• 13% have achieved Level 6
• 7000 are Early Years Professionals
• 90%  of staff are in permanent employment
• 98% are female
• Average occupancy in nurseries is 82%
• The nursery sector is worth £4.41 billion pounds and contributes £381,780,000 towards the UK income tax bill

Of course, we are struggling with the economic downturn and some businesses have gone out of operation, yet generally the stronger more capable businesses are surviving. It is a slow growth period, but it’s flat lining rather than plummeting.

Interestingly, later in the day Philip Blackburn from Laing and Buisson described  the nursery market as mature, with much more emphasis being placed on developing quality and service innovation.

The age old problem of the cost of the universal offer was highlighted, and Purnima revealed some big differences in the Nursery Education Grant across the country – varying from between £2.04 to £3.99, with very few local authorities funding the actual cost through their hourly rate. This looks unlikely to be resolved and will continue to take all our business and leadership creativity to balance the books while running a flexible offer.

Sarah Teather, our Minister, joined us to give a confident speech, subsequently endearing herself to the audience by staying to answer some difficult questions honestly and comprehensively. She reaffirmed the aim of the government was to close the attainment gap in children from poor backgrounds, something she felt could happen with the support of our very diverse sector.

As ever, she asked us for our input; but asked in the right way and we will always rise to the request.  In this case, our feedback is now sought on a number of reviews, including Tickell’s recommendations, Ofsted, the Code of Practice and the workforce. So that is one weekend of survey monkey to look forward to!

She acknowledged that much of our frustration comes from the interpretation of the many regulations we face; apparently Local Authorities have 200 pages of guidance, so little wonder there are concerns around interpretation. Let’s help get the guidance on one page.  We are trying to do that with our HR policies at LEYF, and if we can do it, the Government certainly can.

Sarah Teather clarified that access to free places must be free.  Parents must not be expected to pay for extras or lunch in order to access the free offer. The chair, Rosemary Bennett, Social Affairs Correspondent at The Times, got a great guffaw from the audience when she asked

…Minister, do you not think it’s your job to ring up local authorities and tell them to pay a fair rate?”

The Minister also picked up the audiences concern that the new Level 3 CYPW Diploma was weak and would not ensure quality, especially as it lacks any real child development input, no units on play and can be completed in 2 long assessments with limited literacy assessment.  This puts the heart crossways for many employers, especially those of us training 16 to 19 year olds.  Our minister at least had the decency to accept our concerns and said she would review it.

We need to think about qualifications and whether they are fit for purpose.”

The following day we were patronised by the head of the CWDC, who more or less told us to get stuffed, saying the CWDC had consulted with employers and we had agreed to this.  Having recently spoken with all the big employers, along with a colleague representing employers on the CWDC working group attending the conference, we were collectively stunned by such an assertion, as none of us have been approached by the CWDC on any matter, let alone the Diploma.

Audrey and Wendy certainly liked the presentation by Catherine Prisk, Director of Play England, who made an impassioned plea to encourage risky play. I laughed given I had blogged about this last week. She pressed her point by asking the audience to remember our best play experience. She then asked whether it was inside or outside…naturally everyone put their hands up for outside.  She then went in for the kill, asking us whether we were with friends or adults.  Yes, of course, it was without an adult.  Who would want one of them around to spoil the fun; a point also made by a child she quoted who described play as

Play is what I do when you stop telling me what to do.”

Spare a thought then for our children, who not only go to school far too early, but come home to spend far too much time with Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog as companions.  Our challenge is to create an environment where they have the opportunities to test themselves, to feel fear, to find solutions and to gain mastery. We had a presentation from Sandfield Natural Play Centre in Liverpool which has built in risky play into their curriculum.  We were delighted by photos of her forest school approach.  It inspired the following quote from Wendy, who is going to build a fire pit in Ford Road whilst I cut the ribbon and celebrate over a toasted marshmallow.

Risky Play Rocks; stepping out on a rocky road adventure together, we have the potential to move beyond scaredy cats to confident and creative staff and children. Rock on!

Wendy Buckingham, Ford Road Children’s Centre Nursery

Catherine Prisk reminded those afraid of risky play to read two books to give them greater confidence:

• Common Sense Common Safety; Lord Young, October 2010
• Too safe for their own good; Jennie Lindon, 2011-06-09

After a tasty lunch (what is it about conferences, we sit all day and are constantly hungry?),  we were regaled with a presentation on attachment by Robin Balbernie, who shocked us all by saying 55% adults and 60% of children had poor attachment. He reminded us that attachment is a child’s biological response to fear and danger and actually sculpts our brain; a fact not lost on our CRLD team which is keen to roll out and develop their Brain Development CPD programme.

Robin continued by emphasising the crucial role of adults who care for babies, since the damage from poor attachment is done by the end of their first year. So shout out for all our staff who work with babies! It certainly got Audrey thinking about how we can do more at LEYF. We also need to improve our assessment of attachment, especially as we are about to increase our offer to two year olds in line with Government policy; we need to figure out better ways of assessing attachment, and supporting staff and parents to respond to children in a way that helps ensure the child’s forms secure attachments.  Apparently, assessing at collection time is the better time to weigh up the child’s state of attachment, as the reunion following the separation is the place where you can better gauge the quality of attachment.

Neil Griffiths of Storysack fame ended the day with a stirring call for us to read books to children, so they will be inspired to read for pleasure.  He advised those reading stories just before lunch using a dying wasp voice with the face like a slug’s bottom need to leave and go and work elsewhere. He read us the story of the little mouse, the ripe red strawberry and the big hungry bear until tears of laughter ran down our faces.  How I wished the whole of LEYF were there to experience it.  Maybe they will some day soon.

Audrey summed it up when she said she would encourage staff to…

“…hold the book as if it were your most treasured possession, and use everything at your disposal – including your vocal acrobatics – to engage children so the story becomes part of their memories.”

I have had the most interesting week. Despite the weather and incompetent overground trains trying to keep me at home, the 209 bus and Piccadilly line ensured the commute from west London, although longer, was possible.  So hear hear for them.

Two activities spurred me on: a useful visit from a local politician with whom I could talk local community action, then two days at the School for Social Entrepreneurs exploring the intricacies of social franchise.

At LEYF we have been developing a means of franchising our social enterprise childcare model for the past year. Working with an academic partnership we have begun to codify the model and the processes. It’s no small challenge, since codifying a philosophy in a way that tells a clear story and has the right processes in place is much more complex than it first seems. The opportunities provided by the SSE to hear from commercial franchisors as well as the benefit of Geoff Mulgan from the Young Foundation proved sufficiently challenging to make my head spin.

In this climate, organisations can take two paths: one to keep small and lean, the other to grow, scale up or replicate the model.  Franchising is a good way to do the latter; and despite the doom and gloom, a well organised, canny social enterprise operator should be honing all their entrepreneurial skills to make the most of any opportunity. Indeed, we may never get these chances again.

For those of us in the world of childcare, now more than ever before, we have a real duty to do something.  Children from poorer backgrounds will be the losers in the current re-shifting of priorities, one of many clear points made in the recent Frank Field Report.

To this end, the franchise option seems to play out in three ways: the product, in our case community and Children Centre nurseries; the service we provide, and the way we do things.

At LEYF I hope to use this opportunity to hammer home what we have been saying for a long while, namely that intergenerational children’s centres are the way forward, nurseries need to be community based and socially enterprising approaches have a part to play in the nursery market place.

My week finished on an uplifting note: a cup of tea with a friend who is trying to stay positive in Tower Hamlets, followed by a fundraising carol concert for the wonderful charity Rainbow Trust, which supports children who have life threatening illnesses. The voices of the young choristers in Urban Voices rang out and uplifted us with their enthusiasm and optimism.  On a cold Friday night it was simply the icing on the cake.