28 September 2005 - Childcare Bill U-turn Childcare Bill: The Government considers u-turn on safety check cuts Chloe Stothart and Asha Goveas, 28 September 2005 The Government could perform a dramatic u-turn on plans to cut compulsory registration for some childcare schemes following opposition from the sector (Children Now, 14-20 September). Speaking at the Labour Party conference, children's minister Beverley Hughes said the Government would look again at proposals in the Childcare Bill consultation, which could mean childcare for six and seven-year-olds not based on school sites would no longer be required to register with Ofsted. "We're going to look at the whole thing again," she said, adding this was partly as a result of the consultation. Last week Naomi Eisenstadt, head of the Sure Start programme, acknowledged the scale of opposition to the proposals. Addressing a national Sure Start conference in London, she said there was "a very, very strong lobby" against the plans and it was possible ministers would reconsider. Children's organisations fear the proposals would put children at risk as they would result in less regulation and throw responsibility for vetting childcare back into the hands of parents. Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said: "I would be delighted if they did (scrap the idea). We were always clear that we felt this was a flaw in a Bill that was otherwise good news." The Department for Education and Skills stressed no decision had been made on whether or not to go ahead with the plans. A spokesman said: "The Bill will require regulation where it is most needed and will ensure that whatever formal setting children attend they will have access to similar high-quality provision. " Source: children now 28 September 2005 - £68m for extended schools in 2008 Special report: Labour Party Conference - Extended schools set to receive long-term cash commitment Tristan Donovan and Ruth Smith, 28 September 2005 The Government has indicated it is likely to come up with another £680m to support the development of extended schools once current funding runs out in 2008. Schools minister Jacqui Smith was responding to Labour conference delegates' concerns over long term funding for extended schools. Addressing a Citizens Advice fringe meeting, she said that Government investment was likely to continue at the same level after the current funding allocation runs out. "While I can't promise additional money yet, I cannot envisage in two years time this Government putting a major brake on funding," she said. The Department for Education and Skills expects that every child will be able to access extended school services by 2010. It has committed a total of £680m to support the development of extended schools from 2006 to 2008. Many in the children's sector had expected that funding would not continue at the same level after 2008 and that there would be a greater focus on charging for activities. Key figures in children's services expressed relief after hearing of the minister's surprise comments this week. David Hawker, director of children's services at Brighton & Hove City Council described it as "excellent news". He added: "We share her hope that funding won't stop. Extended schools are a central plank of policy for children both centrally and locally and we certainly want funding to continue." Kevin Crompton, chair of the Association of Directors of Education and Children's Services, said: "It gives us more time to work out how to fund extended schools and children's centres in the long run." Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: "The funding will help schools focus on what activities they want to do." Source: children now 26 September 2005 - Young children and stress Young children experience heightened stress levels when they enter child care suggests research. Researchers tracked the reaction of 70 toddlers in Berlin to their separation from their parents and homes. They found stress levels were still raised months after beginning child care - even though outward signs of distress had stopped. "For most toddlers the initiation of daycare is a major stress," writes report co-author Michael Lamb. The study of children's reaction to leaving home casts light on a question that will have been asked by many working parents: "Do children really worry about being away from their parents?" The answer from this study suggests that children do experience increased stress - with measurements being based on levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their saliva. Researchers tracked the 70 children in Berlin, aged 15 months, from before they started childcare, through their first day and then as they adapted and became more accustomed to their childcare setting. The research found that stress levels increased when children entered childcare and, though lower, were still above normal several months later. "It is stressful for both infants and children to start spending extended periods of time in noisy new environments separated from their trusted sources of comfort and support," writes Professor Lamb from Cambridge University's faculty of social and political sciences. Even though levels of "fussing and crying" subside after the first few days, and children stop showing "overt" signs of distress, Professor Lamb says children still have "heightened levels of vigilance or arousal even after they appear to have adjusted to daycare". These children might also make more compensatory demands for interaction with their parents. The research suggests there are ways that the impact might be softened - including reducing the length of time in which children are with carers each day, more individualised attention from childminders, and childcare settings which are smaller and more home-like. But there is also a reminder that stress exists in children even when they seem to have adapted to childcare - and that if children are going to be properly settled and reassured there is a need for parents to provide "child-focused emotional exchange", particularly in the hours before sleep. Source: bbc.co.uk/news 18 September 2005 - Sure Start Evaluation Bombshell? Sure Start workers have been told to prepare themselves for a "bombshell" in the form of a report that will show local Sure Start programmes have not made a difference to children and families. The latest evaluation of the programme is expected to show children in Sure Start areas have not fared better than those in equivalent areas without Sure Start programmes. And it reportedly reveals that teenage mothers have actually done worse. These unpublished results, together with other early findings, have prompted some early years experts to say Sure Start has "failed". "Children who have been through Sure Start have been followed up for several years and it doesn't seem to have made a blind bit of difference to them. They didn't do any better at school and their health records are not better," Professor Helen Penn told a conference in Newham, east London last week. Penn, professor of early childhood at the University of East London, said the Government should switch its attentions to early interventions that have shown tangible results. "Sure Start has failed and I think people have to grasp the nettle of this evidence," she said. Her comments came after journalist Polly Toynbee warned Sure Start staff from Newham that the programme was in "serious danger" and they should steel themselves for a backlash. But Professor Edward Melhuish, director of the Sure Start evaluation being conducted by the Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues at the University of London, told Children Now the report was not "overwhelmingly negative". He said he could not comment on the findings in detail but said: "There's a bit of good news, a bit of bad news." Melhuish stressed it was part of ongoing research and "in no sense definitive". There were also other strands of the evaluation that may prove more useful in terms of judging its overall success, he added. The evaluation is due out in October. Source: Children Now