In her speech at the Conservative party conference, the education secretary, Nicky Morgan, said she would give parents a “right to request” childcare from schools for the full working day and in holidays. So will headteachers be forced to become childcare providers if enough parents come clamouring at the gates? And how many will need to request provision before a school has to act? Morgan later backtracked, saying schools themselves did not need to be the providers … and that academies and free schools were excluded. But would more school-based childcare be welcome?
Peter Okoye, father of three and education officer, CarAf Centre, Camden, London
I would like to see more childcare options funded by government, but I worry that children who are regularly dropped off early and picked up late will end up feeling bored with being always at school, and will disengage. They’ll hardly see their parents, and when they do, everyone will be shattered. So what happens to quality time between parents and their children? There are a lot of working-class people from ethnic minorities who work long hours and all different shifts, but I can assure you that most would prefer to spend more time with their families. Wraparound school childcare could mean people are expected to be available to work hours that are now seen as unsociable, and so you end up with no balance at all.
Hanadi Alkhder, pharmacist and mother of two, Birmingham
I need to drop my son off early for breakfast club and pick him up at 5.30pm. The school operates the childcare, but there was a blip at the start of this term when his place hadn’t been automatically carried over from last year, and it was hugely stressful. I had to go in and plead for a place. And I’d really like them to offer more than the two days a week they put on in the holidays – so yes, if the idea is that if enough parents ask for wraparound care, then your school needs to deliver, I’m all for it.
Iesha Small, assistant headteacher and mother of three, Hertfordshire
It’s a great idea in theory but this is not anything particularly new. What does Nicky Morgan mean when she says there will be a “right to request” childcare from your school? There’s a “right to request” flexible working, but you don’t always get it. She hasn’t been clear either about which age group she means: one assumes primary, but does she mean secondary as well?
Jack Hatch, executive headteacher, St Bede academy, Bolton
We already provide year round before- and after-school activities from 7.30am to 6pm, and we set up a charity to manage that. If you go back to the last Labour government we were told schools had to either provide childcare or signpost parents to other provision. That then all that got lost, and I was disappointed, because many of our parents will tell you they couldn’t work if the wraparound care we put on didn’t exist. We’ve been doing it for 15 years now and we’ve talked to governments of all colours about it. It’s clear this government wants a mixed economy in childcare – they recognise that you can’t have standardised provision because parents want different things in different schools. But what I’d say is you need a very sound and well-thought through plan, because as a school you’re taking on significant extra financial and employment risks.
Justine Roberts, CEO of Mumsnet
The lack of good, affordable childcare for older children is a huge headache for parents, and Mumsnet users generally think wraparound childcare in schools is a good idea, so long as the childcare is of good quality and the activities are leisure-based and not solely focused on schoolwork. As with all new initiatives, wraparound care needs to be properly resourced so it doesn’t just result in extra work for teachers and school staff.
