“Working Together for Children”
Waterford Childcare Committee Seminar and Launch
Thursday 2nd October 2014
Speech by Rose Murphy CEO, Waterford Childcare Committee
Mayor City & County of Waterford
Minister for Children & Youth Affairs
TÚSLA Area Manager
Waterford City & County Childcare Committee
Chairperson
Audience
RSVP Regrets
Cllr James Tobin
James Reilly
Jim Gibson
Michael Walsh
Rena Cody
Invited Guests and colleagues,
colleagues and friends who couldn’t make it
Welcome
Thank you Mayor for your opening address and guest speakers, Jim Gibson and Michael
Walsh for your presentations.
Working Together for Children is the theme of today’s seminar and the event marks also the
celebration and official launch of Waterford Childcare Committee Ltd.
Since the establishment of the Childcare Committees back in 2001/2002, it has been the
practice of the Committees to work collaboratively with all of the key stakeholders –
children & parents, centre and home based service providers, statutory, voluntary and
community groups and organisations with responsibility and common purpose. Working
together for children in collaboration with the key stakeholders has from the outset been
underpinned by core values – including rights of the child, parents as primary carers and
educators, equality, diversity & inclusion, openness, transparency & accountability,
community development, empowerment & participation. To the best of our ability, these
values have held us steadfast in our working relationships and work over the years.
The main aim of the Committee is to develop, support and enhance high quality, integrated,
accessible and affordable childhood care and education services in Waterford.
1
We are guided in our work and actions by five objectives which are based on the broader
national policy goals. In the remainder of my presentation, I wish to share with you these
objectives and some of the work and actions that are carried out in collaboration with the
key stakeholders. I also wish to draw your attention to some of the challenges and
opportunities in our work together for children in Waterford.
1. To support early years and school age infrastructure and services where the
holistic well-being of children and families are fundamental.
The poster board presentations show rich examples of early year’s services and quality
initiatives in Waterford. The most important work with children and parents happens on a
daily basis in early years centre and home based settings. The success of this work is largely
dependent on the relationships between children, parents and staff within the settings. The
relationships that develop are grounded in the values of mutual trust and respect and open
communication and in the principles of professional practice on the part of staff. The
knowledge, skills, attributes and experience of staff inform the relationships with children
and parents and a primary factor in the creation of a high quality early years environment.
Together these values and principles of professional practice create the happy and secure
environment in which the holistic wellbeing of children and families are fundamental and in
which children grow and thrive.
But we know from our daily interactions with the early year’s professionals and parents that
there are real problems that threaten and hamper the holistic wellbeing of children and
families. For example a child attending a setting who has a disability; parents may struggle
with coming to terms, finding and securing the help and supports that their child needs to
ensure that his/her needs are addressed on time so that the child is given every opportunity
to achieve his/her full potential; the early years setting and professional while willing, are
not always equipped to respond appropriately to the needs of the child and struggle also to
access the additional resources that might be needed and to access also the support of the
early intervention professionals and services.
The recent Annual Early Years Sector 2013 Survey showed a wide variation in the levels of
support available for children with disability in early year’s settings across the country.
Working together for children with disability needs our focus and attention. Waterford
2
Childcare Committee welcomes the establishment of the national Health & Education
Steering Group and Department of Children and Youth Affairs Cross-Sectoral Team on
Children’s Disability Issues. Its purpose is to promote closer collaboration on children’s
disability issues, based on departmental policies, across health, education and children and
youth affairs issues. We are pleased that a member of our staff Noirin Healy Magwa
representing CCI is a member of this steering group and we hope that as a participating
member of the group, Noirin will help to inform and raise awareness of the very real issues
experienced by children, parents and early years professionals on the ground and help to
promote closer collaboration at national and local level to bring about the appropriate and
practical responses that children need.
Early years settings are enriched by the diversity of children and families who attend – the
equality & diversity poster board presentation provides us with rich examples of the
diversity within settings in Waterford. However, from our daily interactions and from
findings from the Annual Early Years Sector survey, we are aware that there are challenges
for children whose first language is neither English nor Irish. We welcome and appreciate
the collaboration with the local HSE Speech & Language Department who have facilitated
workshops for early years professional on this topic.
There are many more challenges faced by parents and early year’s settings on a daily basis –
too numerous to discuss today.
2. To enhance quality early childhood education and care and school-age provision
Enhancing and supporting quality has been a primary focus of the work of the Childcare
Committee from the outset.
Before the publication of Síolta The National Quality
Framework for Early Childhood Education in 2006 and Aistear The Early Childhood
Curriculum Framework in 2009, the Committee was guided by The Report on the National
Forum for Early Childhood Education (1998) which addressed quality and accreditation
issues and set out quality indicators and targets. Over the years the Committee has
developed strong working relationships with a number of organisations to support the
delivery of a range of programmes which have enriched the daily curriculum/progamme of
3
play activities with children and helped to achieve the broader national outcomes for
children e.g.
active & healthy; achieving full potential in learning and development;
connected, respected & contributing in their world. These include for example, Buntus Start
delivered in collaboration with Waterford Sports Partnership, Simon & Friends Road Safety
in collaboration with the RSA, Green Preschools in collaboration with the local authority and
An Taisce Green Schools.
Since the publication of the national quality and early learning framework, early years
settings and professionals in Waterford have actively participated in a number of initiatives
to inform and upskill themselves in order to embed the principles, standards and themes of
the Síolta and Aistear practice frameworks within their settings.
In so doing they have
greatly enhanced and improved the quality of experiences and opportunities for children in
the settings. Working in collaboration with the national voluntary organisations Early
Childhood Ireland and Barnardos has been central to the success and achievements and we
thank our colleagues from those organisations for their work with us. The poster board
presentation provides rich examples of the work to enhance quality and I wish to
acknowledge and commend these early years professionals involved for their work and
commitment.
The recent establishment of the National Early Years Quality Support Service (NEYQSS)
headed by Dr. Margaret Rodgers forms a new departure in the efforts to support and
enhance quality in early year’s settings and hopefully will enrich experiences for children
within settings going forward. We look forward to working with the NEYQSS in this
ambition in the years ahead.
The change to the Inspection structure and process is also expected to yield improvements
in quality and standards within early years settings. We welcome the opportunity to work
together with TÚSLA in this regard.
However, the responsibility and cost of providing high quality care and education falls
heavily on early years professionals and settings – this must be acknowledged and the
4
additional resources prioritised and secured to enable professionals and settings to meet
the responsibilities and costs involved in achieving high quality early years environments.
School age provision is largely a neglected area and badly in the need of key stakeholders
coming together to address the issues both at local and national level. There are 23 school
age services in Waterford doing their best to provide enriching experiences and
opportunities for children on a daily basis. There is a strong demand and good uptake of the
Government Schemes which specifically target and provide limited subsidies to parents
seeking school age care to enable those parents to participate in training and return to work
opportunities. Much work has been done but much more work is needed to develop and
enhance quality within school age services and this work needs to be lead from a national
level.
3. To consolidate investment in the sector in order to support the continuing
development of a stable, integrated and sustainable infrastructure.
Capital Investment in Waterford City and County 2002-2014
29 Community Services
€9,805,622
14 Private Services
€322,908
29 Community and 14 private services have received capital funding to the tune of
approximately €11.1m since 2002. Investment in the county was the lowest in the South &
East region overall during the period.
The results from the recent Annual Early Years Sector Survey in relation to waiting lists and
vacancies point to the potential need for further large scale capital investment in Waterford.
The survey results show that nationally Waterford County has one of the highest numbers
of children on waiting lists. With regard to county patterns from 2011 to 2013, the Report
says that Waterford County has one of the most notable increases in waiting lists i.e.
2011:49, 2012:59, and 2013:182. The issue may become a problem if as the Minister has
indicated a 2nd preschool year will be introduced before end of the current programme.
While we welcome this additional investment, we have concern that there will not be
5
capacity and enough places available for all children to avail of this entitlement. We would
greatly welcome and appreciate the opportunity for discussion and wider consultation on
how best to structure and deliver any increased investment before the introduction of a 2nd
free preschool year.
Number of Services currently listed in Directory
-
100
Community Services
44
Private Services
56
Number of TÚSLA Registered Childminders
6
Number of Parent & Toddler Groups
32
Notably following the introduction of the ECCE scheme, the number of community services
reduced and the number of private services increased. Anecdotal evidence for this shift
suggests that the voluntary committees who supported community services were not willing
to take on board the responsibilities involved in setting up a company and being a company
director. Governance is an area of concern in relation to the sustainability of community
based services. There is need for more work and supports in this area. I wish to
acknowledge the commitment and volunteer work of those serving on the management
committees of the 44 community based services in Waterford. A lot of social capital is being
generated in these local communities!
Traditionally home based childcare has been a strong feature of provision in Waterford. The
county which is largely rural depends on childcare provided by childminders in their own
homes as full day center based services are not sustainable in small rural areas due to low
density and spread of population. Up until the end of 2013, 44 voluntary notified
childminders were listed on the Directory of Services and in years prior to that had between
70-100 voluntary notified childminders listed in the city and county. Regretfully the
Committee received a cut in funding early in 2013 as a result the level of support to
childminders has reduced significantly. The cut in funding and erosion of national policy
with regard to childminding/home based childcare is reflected across the country. The issue
is in dire need of our focus and attention. In an attempt to address the issue, Childcare
6
Committees Ireland (CCI) in consultation with DCYA and Pobal has established a task group
at national level of which I am a member.
I hope that home based childcare will receive the attention that it deserves from the
Minister and his Department in the coming year and particularly in light of the fact that it is
a preferred choice for many parents and the only sustainable option for childcare in rural
areas. It is also a source of income for many families and self-employment opportunity - for
women in most instances.
It would seem that the Department & Government has decided on non-regulation of this
sector – therefore our challenge is to find new and innovative ways to promote and support
self-regulation in this area. As we have seen from the high number of voluntary notified
childminders in the past and from our evaluation of the National Childminding Initiative in
Waterford City & County carried out by Dr. Mary Daly – we know that there is scope for
improvements in this area.
We wish to acknowledge and thank local TD Ciara Conway for her interest and work in this
area - she has been a champion for the cause.
Number of Services in Schemes
ECCE
89
CCS
22
TEC
39
Number of Children Accessing Schemes
2013/14
ECCE
CCS
1692
780
TEC
The Committee has been working closely with the Department, Pobal, CCI and services and
welcome the development and introduction of the Programme Implementation Platform
(PIP) which will be launched and become live early next week. It is envisaged that when
7
fully operational PIP will streamline and lighten the administrative burden of the schemes
for services and free up staff to focus their attention and time to the children where it is
most needed. The reality is that many services do not have administrative staff to wholly
deal with the administration of schemes and the attention of staff has in the past been
diverted during the critical transition period for the child at the beginning of the preschool
year when the child is settling in and at the end of the year when the child is preparing to
transition to primary school. It is hoped also that PIP will alleviate the delays in registration
of children, transfers, confirmation of entitlement to schemes and payment of schemes –
delays that hinder the smooth running of services and are a potential threat to sustainability
of the service
Childcare Fees
From the recent Annual Early Years Survey the national average weekly fee for a full day
place for a child older than one year is €166.63 and for a baby the average fee is €173.02.
The national average weekly fee for a part-time place is €94.88 and for a sessional place the
average fee is €65.18. The national average fee for a childcare place is higher in urban
facilities than in rural facilities. The average fee for a full day place for a child older than 1
year for example is €174.48 in urban services, 9.2% higher than the average of €159.76 in
rural areas. Following a sharp drop in average charges in 2009, the Report has found that
average fees have climbed back up to 2008 levels in the years 2012 and 2013.
Average Childcare Costs compared to National Costs
taken from Annual Early Years Sector Survey 2013
Full-Time Babies
(>1)
Sessional
School Age
National Average Weekly Fee
€166.63
€65.18
€70.59
Waterford City – Average Weekly Fee
€165.20
€65.09
€64.00
Waterford County – Average Weekly Fee
€152.00
€56.90
€60.00
8
Some of you will have seen the Primetime pre budget debate on cost of childcare and
whether it should be subsidised on Tuesday last – this is a serious and pressing topic. The
primary role of parents is upheld in the Irish Constitution.
Parents are responsible for
rearing, caring and educating their children and in so doing weave the fabric of our society.
Society and Government in turn have a duty to support parents in their primary role for the
betterment of society at large, to enable parent to generate income for their family and
contribute to the creation of wealthy economy for the benefit of society.
As we know, the cost of childcare is too high and climbing and unaffordable for many
parents.
For many services the income generated from schemes and fees does not
adequately meet the costs incurred in the provision of services.
Wages constitute the
highest cost for services yet wages paid to staff are low. Many services are increasingly
becoming unsustainable.
The financial sustainability of full day community services is of
particular concern in addition to the perils regarding governance mentioned previously.
Increasingly services are eating into their reserves and are showing ongoing deficits. This is
not sustainable and in light of the substantial capital investment that has been made to the
development of a childcare infrastructure, the issue is critical.
Additional government investment is needed to help parents meet the cost of childcare; and
for services to meet the costs incurred in providing childcare that is of a high quality. The
level of government investment in Ireland is meagre comparative to European countries and
the cost to parents is one of the highest in Europe.
I call on the Government and the
Minister to prioritise and ring-fence the additional investment in the forthcoming and
successive budgets to ensure that by 2020 Ireland can pride itself on rising to the top of the
European tables knowing that we have invested well for better outcomes and a brighter
future for our children.
9
4. Through ongoing professional development, to build on the capacity of the early
childhood care and education (ECCE) sector to enhance and develop quality
services for children and their families
Staff Qualifications taken from Annual Early Years Sector Survey 2013
City
County
National Average
FETAC Level 5 or above
90.3%
94.1%
87%
FETAC Level 6 or above
47.2%
55.6%
46.6%
FETAC Level 7 & 8
27.5%
17.8%
12.3%
The Committee has worked closely with local training providers including the Education and
Training Board (ETB) and Institutes of Technology (IT) Waterford and Carlow to promote and
support opportunities for continuing professional development, access, transfer and
progression routes for staff working in early year’s settings.
From the outset the
Committees promoted, supported and encouraged staff to avail of CPD opportunities and
the findings with regard to staff qualification from the recent Annual Early Years Sector
Survey reflect the collaborative efforts of the Committee & training providers but more
importantly the commitment of staff to their continuing professional development. The
setting of a minimum standard of FETAC Level 5 for all staff by September 2015 is to be
welcomed but far short of the EU target of 60% of staff qualified at degree level. The
establishment of the Learner Fund to assist staff who need to gain the minimum
qualification requirement is also welcome.
The requirement for staff to maintain mandatory training requirements including for
example first aid, food & fire safety, manual handling, child protection has time and cost
implications for services and staff but critically important for quality and safety within
settings.
The establishment of the Association of Childhood Professionals (ACP) operating at local and
national level is an important development in raising awareness, promoting and advocating
on behalf of the early years and school age professionals. The Committee is pleased to work
closely with the ACP in the achievement of its aims.
10
5. To ensure effective and transparent collaboration, communication and
consultation, and optimum use of resources by all stakeholders in early childhood
care and education.
As expressed at the beginning of my presentation, since the establishment of the Childcare
Committees back in 2001/2002, it has been the practice of the Committees to work
collaboratively with all of the key stakeholders underpinned by values of openness,
transparency and accountability and we have endeavoured to do this to the best of our
ability.
As we have heard from Jim and Michael in their presentation, significant changes to local
infrastructure has taken place which has an impact on how we will work together for
children and families going forward. We welcome the establishment of the Waterford
Children & Young Persons Services Committee (CYPSC) and the opportunities for
collaboration and coordination of support and services that this will bring. We envisage that
the CYPSC will provide us with a structure, a plan and a process for working together to
create better outcomes and hopefully brighter futures for children in Waterford - we are
aware of constraints however in that the work undertaken will largely be within our existing
resources which will certainly call for smarter use of those limited resources.
References:
Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education, (CECDE), (2006), Síolta,
The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education Dublin: CECDE
Dr. Mary Daly, (2011) Review of the National Childminding Initiative in Waterford City & County,
Waterford City & County Childcare Committees
Forum Secretariat, (1998) Report on the National Forum for Early Childhood
Education, Dublin: The Stationery Office.
National Council for Curriculum & Assessment (NCCA) (2009) Aistear the Early Childhood Curriculum
Framework
Pobal (2014), Annual Early Years Sector Survey 2013
11
12