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Carrots not sticks needed to improve our nurseries
• I WAS deeply saddened to read the article, Send council hit squads into nurseries (August 29). In the 21st century I would have hoped that we have moved away from this aggressive form of working to improve services. I am also surprised that Councillor Richard Watts has not informed himself of the joint working strategies currently in place in the borough, supporting early years childcare providers.
Islington Council has for many years had a strong working relationship with the voluntary sector and we are currently working together to address the many issues identified through National Childcare Strategy to improve opportunities for all the children and families in our borough.
Although looking at percentages is sometimes useful, in this case it is misleading. In all, the numbers are low and those childcare providers who had weaknesses made significant improvements before this report was published.
All of these provisions were going “through change” at the time of their inspections. With ongoing support and expertise from council and voluntary sector officers, these early years childcare providers had their own action plans in place before the report was published.
They are making good progress, with support and monitoring continuing with the parents, trustees and staff.
It is important to recognise that the majority of Islington’s childcare providers in the early years sector have successfully met the new requirements from the Children Act and Ofsted, despite these requirements increasing their workload and adding to the responsibilities of parents and trustees.
As Councillor Ursula Woolley pointed out, there were no enforcement orders on any provision in Islington. We should all be working together to improve the quality of childcare in the borough and ensure that staff, parents and trustees can run their nurseries with carrots not sticks. In addressing the issues of child poverty, we must have the highest standards of care for all children, whether they attend a statutory, voluntary sector, private provision or childminder.
ANNIE DOUBLEDEE
Director, Islington Childcare Trust
Mayton Street, N7
• YOUR article on the recent Ofsted report into Islington’s failing nurseries highlights a real cause for concern for all parents, which should see the council spurred to take serious and immediate action.
Councillor Ursula Woolley’s easy dismissal of the idea of hit squads for our failing nurseries is typical of the Lib Dems’ complacency when it comes to raising the standard of our childcare facilities.
The 16 nurseries listed as failing mean, in real terms, a quarter of our non-full day nurseries are delivering inadequate childcare. This surely leads us to question exactly how committed the Lib Dem council really is to prioritising top-quality childcare provision in Islington.
Whether these services are failing because of the standard of the building or the quality of teaching and supervision, we parents can be in no doubt as to the impact of this on the educational experience of our children at the earliest age.
Whether these childcare facilities are council run or not, while it is in the council’s power to take action to improve these services it must be compelled to do so with immediate effect. Otherwise, it risks failing to deliver an equal start for children right across the borough.
Cllr CATHERINE WEST
Labour group leader
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