Nurseries being ‘colonised by the middle classes’ warns Ofsted chief

School nurseries appear to have been “colonised by the middle classes” the education watchdog chief has said.

Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has asked why so many parents have failed to engage with a scheme which gives free education for disadvantaged two-year-olds.

Sir Michael (pictured) said almost half the parents of eligible two-year-olds were failing to take up the offer of free education for their children.

Launching Ofsted’s annual report on early years education, Sir Michael said that across England, 85% of nurseries, childminders and other early years settings were now either good or outstanding.

And that percentage has gone up by 18% in the last five years.

But he said: “If we are being honest, the sector has done better for the children who perhaps need it least.”

In speech in London, Sir Michael said: “It seems that school nurseries have been colonised by the middle classes. And who can blame these parents?

“I’m sure they see the well-qualified staff and the appeal of an easy transition to reception and conclude that it’s a good option for their children. But the reality is that these better-off children don’t get any particular advantage from being in a school from the age of two – they would be just as well catered for from an educational perspective in a private nursery, a childminder or indeed at home.

“It’s the poorer children who stand to benefit the most from this type of environment at the earliest age. But this quite clearly is not happening.”

Sir Michael said the poorest 40% of two-year-olds were able to access 15 hours of free early education each week but 113,000 parents are not taking up the offer – nearly half of those entitled to it.

“The Government should do more to encourage greater take-up,” the chief inspector said.

Sir Michael said he thought health visitors, who come under local authority rather than NHS control in September, were the key to increasing this take-up.

He said: “Health visitors already have a particular responsibility to identify and support those families who need additional help. Promoting readiness for school is already part of their role.”

He added: “The local authority must make sure that every health visitor is armed with the knowledge and information about where the best provision is. It is essential that any existing barriers between health and educational professionals are removed.”

Today’s report found that fewer than 5,000 schools are taking two-year-olds and those that do are taking a disproportionate number of children from better-off families.

It said only 9% of two-year-olds in schools are on a funded place and 40 local authorities have no disadvantaged two-year-olds in any maintained school.

Cheryll Adams, executive director of the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV), said that though health visitors are in the right place to be talking to parents about nursery education, “their numbers are still stretched”.

She said: “Although health visitor numbers have been increased by almost 4,000 full time equivalent health visitors over the last government, this was against a backdrop of a fall of over 20% of health visitor numbers in the preceding five years with a rise in birth rate of over 20%.

“Hence it has largely served to make up for the previous loss rather than to increase the ratio of health visitors to children significantly.”

Dr Adams, whose organisation has more than 8,000 health visitor members, said health visitors provide a universal service for all children from 36 weeks of pregnancy until they start school – “hence it is logical for health visitors to be promoting pre-school attendance during their contacts with all families and we would expect this to be happening”.

The charity National Children’s Bureau said it was “worrying” that the gap in attainment between poor children and their better off peers had not narrowed.

Joyce Connor, director of the early childhood unit, said: “Our work with schools, nurseries and other providers has shown that it is vital for early years settings to build positive relationships with local families through home visits and open days, and by building on links made through family support services, children’s centres and health visitors.

“Once these relationships are in place, parents are more likely to make use of free early education, and to recognise the importance of what they do to support their own child’s development and what a setting can also offer.”

Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers & Lecturers, said she was not surprised by the finding that so few school have places for two-year-olds.

She said: “While schools do offer many benefits, including the potential for an easier transition into reception and beyond, they are not necessarily geared up to support very young children. And teachers are not necessarily trained to teach two-year-olds.

“Many schools need to make big changes to their premises, their lunchtime arrangements and their staffing in order to provide the best care and education for two-year-olds, and this cannot happen overnight.

“With the Government now asking schools to provide 30 hours of ‘childcare’ for three- and four-year-olds, further changes will need to happen, at a time when budgets are stretched.”

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, said the closure of hundreds of Children’s Centres had undermined he early years sector.

She said: “Provision in schools and children’s centres ensures disadvantaged children can get the best possible start in life.

“If ministers’ statements about improving life chances and closing attainment gaps are to avoid being dismissed as nothing more than empty rhetoric, the Government must reconsider its early years policy.

“Much more effective support is needed to deliver the best levels of provision.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “We are committed to helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds and removing these barriers, we’re giving every child the chance to the best start in life.

“The number of children benefiting from our two-year-old offer has increased dramatically since its introduction. In the last 12 months to February, the number of children taking it up almost doubled to 166,000.

“It is for parents to decide at what age their child should attend a childcare setting and for how long. We want to help parents make choices based on what is right for their family, rather than what they can or can’t afford.”

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