Publication - Research and analysis
Early learning and childcare trials discussion paper: analysis of responses
Analysis of responses to a discussion on establishing delivery model trials to support expanding the early learning and childcare provision.
ANNEX 2: Examples of Best Practice ( Question 5)
Examples of Best Practice within ELC Provision
| Topic | Initiative name | Location | Theme | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Providing flexibility | Short term full time places | Aberdeenshire | Supporting parents | Full day places (provision which covers the whole nursery day, including a free school meal) to families in crisis, this provision operates on a 12 week block with a review at 6 weeks. One 0-3 provision and about 10, 3-5 setting. Offered in some local authority settings. One of the criteria is to support parents to engage in employment/study. | Early Education |
| Providing flexibility | Hopscotch Childcare Centre in Hamilton | Hamilton | Supporting parents | Single-centre family service which caters for whole families making it easier for parents to access all their childcare needs in one centre. Critical evaluation welcomed of what is described as a, "It is an interesting, innovative and challenging model for our under school age children as well our out of school clubs". Registered for 21 babies, 25 twos, 65 3-5s in the nursery and 80 school-age children in the breakfast, afterschool and holiday clubs. During the hours when these out-of-school club facilities are not in use, the 3-5 registration increases to 145. Open from 7.30 am to 6.00 pm although their registration allows them to open until 9pm. This gives scope to extend opening hours in the event of a demonstrable need. Servicing 12 schools in Hamilton information sharing and working in partnership. |
1. National Day Nurseries Association 2. Hopscotch Childcare Centre |
| Providing flexibility | Blended service | East Ayrshire | Supporting parents | Provided by Community Childminder and ELC establishments to referred families assessed as requiring care beyond 600 hours | East Ayrshire Council Save the Children |
| Providing flexibility | Community Childminding | Scotland | Supporting parents | Local authorities employ childminders to provide emergency or respite care, or to provide ELC for two year olds. | National Parent Forum of Scotland NHS SCOTLAND |
| Providing flexibility | Consultation with parents | Inverclyde | Supporting parents | The findings of consultation are used to determine developments that meet the needs of families. | Inverclyde Council |
| Providing flexibility | Community model | Inverclyde | Supporting parents | A range of provision is available in a community. This includes provision for children aged 0 -5 year, traditional part-time models, extended day and extended year. An integrated model of provision providing mainstream flexible places alongside provision for children with severe and complex additional support needs. |
Inverclyde Council |
| Providing flexibility | All day provision | Norway | Supporting parents | All day childcare provision for children from birth to six. Childcare for all children in school which goes up to the age of 14. Mixture of learning and care through play much of it outside. Parents can leave their children there all day | Aberdeenshire Council |
| Providing flexibility | Blended service | North Ayrshire | Supporting parents | Partner providers and child minders are deployed creatively to cope with the demands of childcare. | North Ayrshire Council |
| Providing flexibility | Blended service | Canada | Supporting parents | Private day care and state kindergarten are blended to meet the needs of parents. | Individual |
| Providing flexibility | Cairellot Nursery Limited | Bishopton, Renfrewshire | Supporting parents | Example of a very small nursery which has grown to meet the needs of our community and the local authority. It has expanded 4 times over the years and this year spent in excess of £300,000 to meet the growing needs of the children within our community. The model includes: funded hours only; funded hours with wraparound; part days; full days; split week which be divided between community and private; block sessions; choice of am/pm session or a mixture of both; term time and full year. | Cairellot Nursery Limited |
| Providing flexibility | Family Learning Centres | North Lanarkshire | Supporting parents | Extended day provision within family learning centres in North Lanarkshire Council to support working families. | North Lanarkshire |
| Providing flexibility | Registered in-house sitter services. | National (Also Highland Sitter Services specifically mentioned) |
Supporting parents | Service which can be delivered by the hour, with parents able to book hour-long slots as required. The cost of the sitter service is the same regardless of the number of children in the household. Sitters provide an extremely flexible service and can, for example, come to the house at weekends or on weekday mornings - e.g. sitters can arrive at 7am, get the children ready and take them to school. This service is of particular use to parents who work shift patterns, or who have to commute long distances to their workplace, or are required to travel for work events. Although this service can be expensive, it is compatible with Self Directed Support, and works well for parents of children with complex additional support needs. | National Parent Forum of Scotland Care and Learning Alliance - Highland Sitter Service |
| Providing flexibility | Coldstream Playgroup | Coldstream | Supporting families | 0-2 yrs- home, childminder, family care, parent and toddler group; 16-24 months- as above, plus Stay and Play sessions; 2-3 yrs- playgroup (part time provision), childminders; 3-5 - nursery, childminders; 5-12 yrs- school, breakfast club, OOSC, childminders; 12 + - school, OOSC, youth groups. All supplemented with various targeted provision such as nurture group, parent drop-ins etc and also uniformed groups, sports clubs and interest groups most of which takes place within the primary school grounds. Example is facilitated by taking place in a small town without any competing services but it might be that it could be replicated around any primary school. | |
| Providing flexibility | Consultation with parents | Renfrewshire Council | Improving take up | Consultation within the local community ensures that a clear picture of needs of individual families is gathered and allows centres / nurseries to provide patterns of delivery which meet the needs of families. Within a local area we have an example of a service being responsive and flexible in its delivery of the entitlement to maximise the uptake of 600 hours for children -through offering children who have an afternoon placement 4 x pm sessions and 1 full day - this was in response to a high number of children not receiving their full entitlement as they were being collected early by their parents in line with primary school closure times. | Renfrewshire Council |
| Workforce | Staff bank | Highland and Moray | Increasing the workforce | Expertise in setting up a staff bank which could be rolled out elsewhere/willingness to partner another authority to help establish this. | Care and Learning Alliance |
| Workforce | Commissioning childminders | North Lanarkshire | Increasing the workforce | Childminders are commissioned to deliver ELC for two year olds. This provides a homelike environment with a less busy service and low adult-to-child ratio suited to the very young child's needs. N. Lanarkshire consulted with SCMA leading to a series of information sessions to explain how the partnership would work. This encouraged childminders to register interest at that stage. The tender process itself was reviewed, explained clearly and the document condensed to two pages. | Scottish Childminding Association |
| Workforce | Collaborative training | Glasgow | Increasing skills of workforce | Through being given resources to work together and access training, small local organisations have been able to collaborate, co-operate and share learning more effectively, resulting in outstanding outcomes for clients. | Glasgow Council for Voluntary Services |
| Workforce | Training for childminders | North Lanarkshire | Increasing skills of workforce | Provision of ongoing training opportunities for childminders similar to the rest of their childcare workforce at times and places which encourage attendance and fit with the childminder's day. Since opening this up to childminders in August 2015 there are now more two year olds with childminders than any other service type in the area. | Scottish Childminding Association |
| Workforce | Childhood Practice Award | National | Increasing skills of workforce | Education Scotland report found that in almost all centres surveyed, staff who either have the BA (Childhood Practice) award or are undertaking the qualification, believe that it is having a significant and positive impact on children's learning. Staff are delivering more child-led learning which promotes deeper and challenging learning experiences. | Scottish Social Services Council |
| Workforce | E-learning and use of information technology | National | On-line learning and IT use | On-line training if done well could be used in some areas. Some settings use technology for observations and administration. | Les Enfants Nursery |
| Workforce | Pay and conditions | Sweden and other Scandinavian countries | Pay commensurate with skill | Pay, qualifications and status which reflect ELC as a valued profession. | 1. Care Inspectorate 2. Kirktonholme Nursery |
| Partnership with parents | Family nurture centres | Fife | Parenting | Combination of parenting classes with childcare | Care Inspectorate |
| Partnership with parents | Parent and child bonding | East Ayrshire | Parenting | Referred families with a child under 3 are offered a place in an ELC establishment through a multi-agency allocation process. Parent and child attend together one day per week to promote positive bonding, increase knowledge and understanding of child development and to create community connections. This was positively evaluated by Strathclyde University in 2015. | East Ayrshire Council |
| Partnership with parents | Stay and Play model | National | Parenting | Parents attend regular sessions with their children and family learning is at the heart of our provision. | Early Years Scotland |
| Partnership with parents | Your Child Choices | National | Supporting families | Delivery of Family Sign Language to families of newly diagnosed deaf children and practitioners in early years' settings. This training aims to improve communication between deaf children and their surroundings, at home or in nursery. | National Deaf Children's Society |
| Partnership with parents | Stepping Stones for Families | National | Supporting families | Provision of a holistic approach to early learning and childcare provision in which the well-being needs of the family are met as well as addressing the childcare needs. This leads to positive outcomes for families. | 1. Stepping Stones for Families 2. Childhood Practice Providers |
| Partnership with parents | Family support service | Fife | Supporting families | Support is in schools rather than family centres. Needs to be evaluated to see if it could be feasibly rolled out across Scotland. | Aberdeenshire Council |
| Partnership with parents | Integrated Family Learning Centres - Woodburn Primary School | Midlothian | Supporting families | A re-design and re-configuration of services in an existing Primary School to establish a Family Learning Centre. From planning to full-scale opening, this was achieved in 15 months. Midlothian Sure Start Third Sector staff work alongside Midlothian Council staff. Central focus of the Family Learning Centre approach is to engage parents in their child's learning and development. 100 families a day can now access a team to support their child and family, under one roof and firmly rooted in their local community. The Family Learning Centre has the 0-3, 3-5, Primary School and Out of School Care all located in the one building, to promote a seamless transition for children and families. |
Midlothian Council and Midlothian Sure Start |
| Child centred | Child centred approaches | Sweden and other Scandinavian countries | Child development | Emphasis on building individual children's confidence and self-esteem. | Care Inspectorate |
| Child centred | Reggio Emilia and TeWhariki curricula | Italy and New Zealand | Child development | Child-focused experience where the voices of children are clearly heard and their rights are respected. These models ensure children are participating in their own lives and learning. | 1. Individual 2. Childhood Practice Providers 3. Scottish Out of School Care Network 4. Cumbernauld & Kilsyth Nursery & Out of School Care Service 5. Stepping Stones for Families |
| Child centred | Rights-based approach | Germany | Children's rights | Every child between the age of 1 and 3 having the legal right to early childhood support | Care Inspectorate |
| Child centred | Smooth transitions | North Ayrshire | Transition through settings | Many of our early years' classes sit within the primary school estate allowing enhanced and positive transition into the primary stages. | North Ayrshire |
| Child centred | Smooth transitions | Lime Tree Day Nursery - Merrylee Primary School Shaw Mor Family Learning Centre - Tinto Primary School Kelvinpark Family Learning Centre - Hillhead Primary School Govan Family Learning Centre - Pirie Park Primary School Knightswood Early Years Centre - StNinian's Primary School Garthamlock Family Learning - St Rose of Lima Primary School |
Transition through settings | Extended day nursery co-located with a primary school on the same campus. This type of delivery means that parents only have to leave and collect their children (aged up to 12 years) from one place. This also improves the transition to formal education at 5 as they are already familiar with the school. | UNISON |
| Child centred | Glasgow City Council nursery in Hillhead. | Glasgow | Quality provision | Excellent provision with well trained and motivated staff and located in a park setting with lots of opportunity for outdoor activities. It is also based within the grounds of Hillhead Primary which will help with transitioning to school. | Individual |
| Outdoor space | Local Nature Kindergarten | Perth and Kinross | Use of outdoor space | High quality provision with a summer club during the summer months. | Perth and Kinross Council Education and Children's Services |
| Outdoor space | Forest School approach | Scotland | Use of outdoor space | Outdoor learning. | Cumbernauld & Kilsyth Nursery & Out of School Care Service National Day Nurseries Association |
| Outdoor space | Outdoor Nursery based in Pollock Park in Glasgow | Glasgow | Use of outdoor space | Children are engaged in outdoor play for the vast majority of the day regardless of the weather (unless is gets very extreme). | Individual |
| Outdoor space | Secret Garden | Fife | Use of outdoor space | Out-door education. | Childhood Practice Providers |
| Provision for vulnerable children | City of Perth Early Childhood Centre | Perth | Providing for vulnerable children | High quality provision for vulnerable children throughout most of the year. | Perth and Kinross Council Education and Children's Services |
| Provision for vulnerable children | A local authority in Scotland | Scotland | Providing for vulnerable children | An innovative example using GIRFEC and an out of school care breakfast club in one LA in Scotland is where head teachers identified children who were often late or missing school. A local out of school care service, which also runs a breakfast club, was commissioned by the LA to provide a pick-up service from the child's own home, to the breakfast club, where a nutritious meal and play was provided then the children were taken to school, on time, every day. It was reported that the children's wellbeing and engagement in school was vastly improved through this practical support. | Scottish Out of School Care Network |
| Provision for vulnerable children | Kilpatrick school nursery | West Dunbartonshire | Providing for vulnerable children | A nursery for children with a high level of need: physical; health related and learning related. An expanded service is due to open in October 2016. | West Dunbartonshire Council |
| Increasing parent choice | Cross-border funding | Ayrshire | Funding follows child | Funding paid to the setting the child attends irrespective of where a child lives. | National Day Nurseries Association |
| Increasing parent choice | No capped places in private settings | Highland and Angus Councils | Funding follows child | Allows funding to follow the child in quality settings. | National Day Nurseries Association |
| Creative pedagogy | Cowgate Under 5s centre | Edinburgh | Creative experience for children | A model for a 8am to 6pm service that employs creative pedagogy and is run by a manager who is not a teacher. | 1. John Davis University of Edinburgh on behalf of Common Weal 2. Aberlour Childcare Trust 3. Childhood Practice Providers |
| Creative pedagogy | Froebal and Montessori | National | Creative experience for children | Creative delivery of early learning and childcare. | Aberlour Childcare Trust |
| Use of expressive arts | Hillend Children's Centre in Inverclyde | Inverclyde | Providing for vulnerable children | Starcatchers ran a pilot combining their artist in residence model with Creative Skills training for 11 members of staff with positive results. They report that use of expressive arts has been invaluable in giving non-verbal children opportunities to express themselves and shape their own learning, and staff have made clear links between the artistic process and the delivery of GIRFEC and SHANARRI outcomes, the Curriculum for Excellence and the implementation of UNCRC particularly articles 12,13 and 31. A full, independent evaluation of the pilot is due for publication May 2016. | Starcatchers |
| Partnership working between organisations | Blending of Outdoor Kindergartens with Local Authority nurseries | Scotland | Transition through settings | 2 types of establishment working in partnership so that a greater number of children can be accommodated while maintaining consistency and continuity for the children. | Individual |
| Working with Asylum seekers and refugees | Daisy Chain, Govanhill | Govanhill | Working with Asylum seekers and refugees | Working with Asylum seekers and refugees. | Childhood Practice Providers |
| Data bank | https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eurydice/index.php/Main_Page | International | Sharing best practice | Comparative data on ELC and education (and sometimes including out of school care) across European countries. This web resource gives separate country reports on ELC, including staff training/qualifications/ policies and financial support etc. | Scottish Out of School Care Network |
Features of work which makes provision exceptional
- Establishments in which children have regular and meaningful interactions with qualified teachers who are expert in early years education.
- Good transitions between nursery and school.
- Focus on free play.
- Outdoor play; outdoor focused ELC provision e.g. Forest school programmes in nurseries
- partner providers with level 9 qualified managers as well as having Early Years GTCS registered teachers
- Child-centred approaches.
- Parental (fathers as well as mothers, other carers) engagement particularly where families are living in difficult circumstances and need additional support.
- Wraparound care services, which offer provision 8am-6pm for siblings to be cared for across the day whilst accessing nursery and school.
- Opportunities for continued CPD.
- Workplace-based nursery provision, in particular the potential for a nursery that is shared between different employers who are located in the same building or area, e.g. in a business park.
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