DfES Childcare Bill Consultation

7 October 2005

Response from the Independent Schools Council

The Independent Schools Council (ISC) represents 500,000 children in 1,276 independent schools.   ISC exists to promote choice, diversity and excellence in education; the development of talent at all levels of ability; and the widening of opportunity for children from all backgrounds to achieve their potential.

ISC supports the aim of securing early years services and childcare for the future.  There are 888 ISC schools that offer nursery provision and many more who offer out of school hours childcare in the form of activities and clubs. ISC schools understand the importance of this work and have consistently offered high quality[i] care and education.  ISC seeks, in this response, to highlight areas where certain of the Childcare Bill's proposals may need further thought and development in order to maximise their effectiveness.

Independence

  • At present, independent school settings that provide provision from birth to 5 are registered and inspected against the 14 National Standards, if they are offering childcare, or are registered as Independent Schools with the Secretary of State.  ISC schools accept that provision must be in line with the five key outcomes set out in Every Child Matters and must be consistent with the principles and practice described in the curriculum guidance for Birth to 3 Matters and the Foundation Stage.  This schema allows schools their independence, as it does not unduly influence their choice of curriculum or organisation, and thereby increases the variety of education on offer so that parents can choose what they feel will be most appropriate for their child.  
  • It is, therefore, crucial that any change in this system retains or enhances the ability of schools to offer the kind of education that they feel is most suited to their children.  Clearly, the Early Development and Learning Framework (EDLF) is still at a planning stage and so it is impossible to make any specific comments.  However, ISC would be interested in drawing on its expertise in educating children from birth to 5 to work with the DfES, as the EDLF is developed, in order to produce a framework that is suited to the needs of its schools. 

Efficiency and Partnership

  • It is vital to ensure that the proposals to place a duty on all local authorities "to improve the well-being of children up to five by improving outcomes for all children" do not allow them a quasi-regulatory role. Local Authorities (LAs) should be required to provide unbiased information about available childcare and assess and address its sufficiency.  However, they are not and should not be its inspectors or regulators, and the guidance for LAs should be very clear in this respect.  This role is already fulfilled by Ofsted - and other bodies approved under contract by Ofsted - and the DfES; any duplication of this role would run counter to the government strategy to remove duplication as recommended by the Gershon and Hampton Reviews.
  • Equally, it is important to realise that, in many respects, the proposed criteria for entry on to the Ofsted Childcare Register overlap with the Education (Independent Schools) (England) regulations and this will create an additional burden for schools as they try to work with two sets of different, but overlapping, regulations.
  • The proposals also leave independent schools regulated by two bodies, with the DfES covering the full 0-18 age range and Ofsted early years and wrap around care, which is undesirable. This could be resolved by using a single inspectorate for ISC schools regulated by a single, but separate body, either the DfES or Ofsted. 
  • Subsidies for costs incurred through inspection should be allocated on an equitable basis.  ISC therefore suggests that any plans for changes to costs and subsidies of inspection are drawn up in close consultation with the relevant inspection bodies.

Conclusion
Many of the proposals in the Childcare Bill Consultation are still at a relatively early stage in their development.  It will be important that the independent sector is kept involved as the proposals are developed

The views expressed in this consultation response are on behalf of 1,276 independent schools and should therefore be weighted accordingly. 

[i] Independent schools have consistently demonstrated their ability to provide high quality nursery provision; Ofsted's Annual Report in 2000 stated that ‘the performance of independent schools and local authority nurseries is particularly commendable'.  The following year, 5,562 different nursery settings were inspected by Ofsted.  In 2001 it was once again reported that ‘the data indicate that variations in performance are greater in some provider groups than others. Independent schools, local authority day nurseries and private nursery schools are most successful in promoting progress towards the early learning goals'.