Date: Monday 15 June 2015

UNISON launches childcare charter for West Dunbartonshire

UNISON has launched a positive 10 point Charter for Early Years services run by West Dunbartonshire Council.

Staff feel the quality and value of their interaction with children is being diminished as to date there has been minimal engagement with the workforce or their union UNISON on how the expanded provision is delivered.  

The Charter sets out basic principles about how the Council should work with staff to  implement the Scottish Government’s commitment to increase provision of 600 hours free nursery places for all 3 and 4 years olds, and the further expansion to some two year olds coming this August.

This is time for a reset and for the council to adopt a genuine partnership approach with UNISON so that we can work together in the best interest of young children and families.

Simon Macfarlane, UNISON Regional Organiser today said:
"The increase in free childcare provision is a major step forward for young children and their families and UNISON believes this provision is best delivered by local authorities.

"In West Dunbartonshirethere has been little consistency of approach to how the 600 hours has been introduced and scant dialogue with staff and their union.

"The expansion has been delivered through the good will of staff but that is rapidly being eroded as our members report that they are not getting sufficient time to prepare and plan the sessions they have with children.  

"UNISON members want the time and space to deliver a full educational experience within the Curriculum for Excellence and to help support the children to learn through play as they prepare for school.

"Excessive use of temporary contracts and the removal dedicated early years management in some centres is further destabilising the workforce which in turn impacts on the children.”

Simon Macfarlane continued:
"Our 10 point charter sets out clearly what the workforce believe is the way forward to provide the best service possible to the youngest children in West Dunbartonshire.

"A key demand of the Charter is for better and more meaningful consultation.

"We need the Council to consult and listen to their workforce and what they are saying through UNISON.

"We also need the Council to commit to never again hiding behind a play on words to get round nursery closures.

"The Council said to us and the parents of Garshake Early Learning and Childcare Centre because it wasn’t called a nursery they didn’t have to follow the Statutory Guidance on school and nursery closures.

"This can’t be allowed to happen again.

"In sending this Charter to the Council today we hope that they will respond positively and this will mark a fresh start to engagement around Early Years services.”

Contacts
Simon McFarlane, UNISON regional organiser, 07703 194132        
Danny Phillips, UNISON communications officer,  07944 664 110

Notes for editors

The West Dunbartonshire Charter is attached below

Summary UNISON West Dunbartonshire childcare charter:

1.      Involvement – there has been little involvement of ELC staff or their union in the review to date.

2.      Quality – there has been little coordinated planning as to how the 600 hours entitlement has been rolled out across the Council, therefor there is variation in approach from establishment to establishment.

3.      Substance not quantity – the various recording required of ELC staff is too onerous and voluminous; there is a tick box culture. Staff need time to reflect and analyse and the focus should be on quality recording.

4.      Parity of esteem – ELC staff are increasingly being asked to work with colleagues in the wider learning communities yet unlike teaching colleagues they don’t get collegiate time for this.

5.      Resources for Additional Needs Learning Assistants are stretched and their deployment doesn’t always match up with the children who need their support.

6.      Voluntary changes not compulsion and stability – any changes to working times or contracted hours must be on a voluntary basis.

7.      A seat at the table and a commitment to consultation – UNISON seeks that a representative of the EYC workforce nominated by UNISON sits on the Education Services Committee.

8.      Training and development – the Independent Review of the Workforce plots a path towards a career path for ELC staff but talks of a 15 year time span. This is too long.

9.      Leadership Role Clarity –. UNISON wants to see an agreed staffing structure criteria set out which delivers a consistent approach across the Council .

10.   Recognise the specialism and professionalism of Early Years – UNISON believes all Early Learning and Child Care Centres should be lead by a Head of Centre with a recognised Early Years degree (or be working towards one) consistent with the findings of ten Independent Review of the Workforce.

Full charter is below:

UNISON Scotland West Dunbartonshire Childcare Charter

On 1 June 2015 UNISON held a meeting for Early Learning and Childcare members to discuss the report of the Review of Early Years Services that was going to the Education Services Committee on 3rd June 2015. The meeting also heard of the publication of An Independent Review of the Scottish Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) Workforce and Out of School Care (OSC) Workforce. At the meeting members nominated colleagues to help write a response to the Council’s review on behalf of UNISON in the form of UNISON West Dunbartonshire Childcare Charter. The Charter below builds on the UNISON Scotland Child Care Charter which was launched in March 2015.

1.      Involvement – there has been little involvement of ELC staff or their union in the review to date. This we believe is a major failing of the review and is a missed opportunity; it is also contrary to the Council’s partnership approach. This is in stark contrast to the Scottish Government commissioned Independent Review which valued the input of practitioners and their representatives. To get the best for current and future children due cognisance needs to be taken of the views of the workforce working with them daily. We seek a commitment to meaningful engagement going forward.

2.      Quality – there has been little coordinated planning as to how the 600 hours entitlement has been rolled out across the Council, therefor there is variation in approach from establishment to establishment. There are common themes though – staff do not have the time to prepare for work with children or adequately clean up and record work done. Many members reported the stress caused by not having time to prepare or having to complete paperwork as they looked after children. Staff feel the quality and value of their interaction with children is being diminished by this.

3.      Substance not quantity – the various recording required of ELC staff is too onerous and voluminous; there is a tick box culture. Staff need time to reflect and analyse and the focus should be on quality recording.

4.      Parity of esteem – ELC staff are increasingly being asked to work with colleagues in the wider learning communities yet unlike teaching colleagues they don’t get collegiate time for this.

5.      Resources for Additional Needs – there are already challenges to support children with additional needs. Learning Assistants are stretched and their deployment doesn’t always match up with the children who need their support. This if unaddressed will be further exacerbated by the expanded provision to 2 years olds commencing in August 2015.

6.      Voluntary changes not compulsion and stability – any changes to working times or contracted hours must be on a voluntary basis. In the same way as UNISON is committed to opposing compulsory redundancies or cuts in hours, similarly we will not have additional hours or changes in work patterns imposed on a predominantly female workforce. A major policy driver for the expansion in childcare provision is to be more responsive to parents; it would be counter intuitive and discriminatory to provide an expanded service based on the exploitation of women workers. Too many early years staff are on temporary contracts – this is unsettling for them and will have an impact on the children too, much more needs to be done to stabilise the workforce through permanent contracts.

7.      A seat at the table and a commitment to consultation – UNISON seeks that a representative of the EYC workforce nominated by UNISON sits on the Education Services Committee. The failure of the Council to follow the statutory guidance with regards to the closure of Garshake Early Learning and Childcare Centre was alarming. We seek no more semantics over the names of establishments and instead call on the Council to commit to follow entirely the School Closures Statutory Guidance in consideration of the closure of any further Early Learning and Childcare Centre.

8.      Training and development – the Independent Review of the Workforce plots a path towards a career path for ELC staff but talks of a 15 year time span. This is too long, ELC staff in West Dunbartonshire need supported with training and development opportunities from HNC through to degree and beyond.

9.      Leadership Role Clarity – there is inconsistency in the deployment and day to day role of Team Leaders and Deputy Managers. UNISON wants to see an agreed staffing structure criteria set out which delivers a consistent approach across the Council and ensures that staff given leadership responsibilities are given the time, resources and support to carry them out.

10.  Recognise the specialism and professionalism of Early Years – UNISON believes all Early Learning and Child Care Centres should be lead by a Head of Centre with a recognised Early Years degree (or be working towards one) consistent with the findings of ten Independent Review of the Workforce. UNISON believe that where Centres are located within a school there should still be a dedicated Head of Centre as there is a need to recognise the importance of appropriate age and stage training, background and qualifications in the leadership of Early Years Centres. It is also vital that in order to recruit and retain the best early years workforce there is a career structure in place.

Finally it should be noted that UNISON  is concerned about staff at Linnvale ELCC who were currently going through a review process to move from 47/47 provision to 20/20 provision only becoming aware of the revised proposal to move to 30/30 through UNISON issuing them with the Committee paper at our 1st if June meeting. This again is demonstrative of the lack of involvement of ELC staff and their union in the review process.

See also: UNISON Scotland Child Care Charter, March 2015.

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