Parent-Led Childcare Settings Case Studies
This collection of case studies describes a range of parent-led childcare sites, both in the UK and internationally.
The case studies explore the different models currently in existence: how parents are involved, their business model, the governance model and what lessons we can learn from them. These case studies were gathered in 2019 to help our learning ahead of starting Friendly Families Nursery. They are shared to inform and inspire parents that are interested in setting up their own parent-led childcare. We have included a brief summary of each example with the option to view more detailed report on each setting below.
The case studies explore the different models currently in existence: how parents are involved, their business model, the governance model and what lessons we can learn from them. These case studies were gathered in 2019 to help our learning ahead of starting Friendly Families Nursery. They are shared to inform and inspire parents that are interested in setting up their own parent-led childcare. We have included a brief summary of each example with the option to view more detailed report on each setting below.
UK Settings
1. Grasshoppers in the Park (Hackney) is open for 2 to 5 year olds from 8am to 6pm five days a week. They have 30 children registered with up to 20 attending each session Parents can do regular shifts in the setting and receive a discount on their fees. Parents are additional to the ratio of adults to children. Thirty families are involved. Fees are linked to household income. Ofsted rates the provision as good.
2. Scallywags (Tower Hamlets) is open during term-time only for children aged 20 months to 4 year olds from 9am to 1.30pm three days a week and 9am to 3pm two days a week. They have 23 children registered with 16 children per session. Parents do a shift once a week if their child is full-time and once a fortnight if their child is part-time. Parents are counted as part of the ratio and two parents have gone on to become key workers. Ofsted rates the provision as good.
3. Happitimes (Hackney) is open for 2 to 5 year olds from 8.30am to 3pm five days a week for 39 weeks a year. Each session is for a maximum of 16 children. Parents do shifts alongside the professionals (usually two per day) but are not counted as part of the ratio. Parents who are unable to do their shifts have to pay extra fees. Ofsted rates the provision as good.
4. Collingham Gardens (Camden) is open for 48 weeks a year. It is for 2 to 5 year olds, running sessions between 9am to 5pm five days a week. They have 28 children registered with 24 attending each session. Parents help with the management committee, fundraising and practical DIY tasks. Parents can come in to the classroom but are not counted as part of the ratio. Fees are linked to household income. Ofsted rates the provision as outstanding.
5. Harpsden Pre-school (Oxfordshire) is open for 2 to 5 year olds, four mornings and two afternoons a week term time only. They have 19 children registered with a maximum of 20 able to attend each session. Parents run the nursery by being part of the elected committee. Parents don’t do shifts with the children. Ofsted rates the provision as outstanding.
6. Sandbrook Community Playgroup (Hackney) is open for 2 to 5 year olds from 9am – 12am and 1pm- 4pm five days a week term time only. They have 36 children registered with 18 attending each session. Parents make up the committee that runs Sandbrook. Some parents may also become trustees of the organisation. Parents don’t do shifts with the children. Ofsted rates the provision as good.
7. Childspace (Lambeth) is open for children from 16 months to 3 years old. They are open between 9am and 2pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays 47 weeks a year. They have 10 children registered with 7 attending each session. Parents are expected to do regular shifts, preparing lunch for the children and helping out alongside the childcare manager. If parents aren’t able to do a shift they have to pay an additional charge. Ofsted rates the provision as good.
2. Scallywags (Tower Hamlets) is open during term-time only for children aged 20 months to 4 year olds from 9am to 1.30pm three days a week and 9am to 3pm two days a week. They have 23 children registered with 16 children per session. Parents do a shift once a week if their child is full-time and once a fortnight if their child is part-time. Parents are counted as part of the ratio and two parents have gone on to become key workers. Ofsted rates the provision as good.
3. Happitimes (Hackney) is open for 2 to 5 year olds from 8.30am to 3pm five days a week for 39 weeks a year. Each session is for a maximum of 16 children. Parents do shifts alongside the professionals (usually two per day) but are not counted as part of the ratio. Parents who are unable to do their shifts have to pay extra fees. Ofsted rates the provision as good.
4. Collingham Gardens (Camden) is open for 48 weeks a year. It is for 2 to 5 year olds, running sessions between 9am to 5pm five days a week. They have 28 children registered with 24 attending each session. Parents help with the management committee, fundraising and practical DIY tasks. Parents can come in to the classroom but are not counted as part of the ratio. Fees are linked to household income. Ofsted rates the provision as outstanding.
5. Harpsden Pre-school (Oxfordshire) is open for 2 to 5 year olds, four mornings and two afternoons a week term time only. They have 19 children registered with a maximum of 20 able to attend each session. Parents run the nursery by being part of the elected committee. Parents don’t do shifts with the children. Ofsted rates the provision as outstanding.
6. Sandbrook Community Playgroup (Hackney) is open for 2 to 5 year olds from 9am – 12am and 1pm- 4pm five days a week term time only. They have 36 children registered with 18 attending each session. Parents make up the committee that runs Sandbrook. Some parents may also become trustees of the organisation. Parents don’t do shifts with the children. Ofsted rates the provision as good.
7. Childspace (Lambeth) is open for children from 16 months to 3 years old. They are open between 9am and 2pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays 47 weeks a year. They have 10 children registered with 7 attending each session. Parents are expected to do regular shifts, preparing lunch for the children and helping out alongside the childcare manager. If parents aren’t able to do a shift they have to pay an additional charge. Ofsted rates the provision as good.
International Settings
1. Klein Kinder Tagesstatten e.V., Munich, Germany
Parent co-ops have operated in Germany since the 1970’s. Parent’s are all expected to play a role in the setting but in the majority of cases this is not within the classroom. Financial support from the federal government incentivises the establishment of parent co-ops.
2. Bannockburn, Washington DC, USA
The parent co-op movement in the US is well established. At Bannockburn parents have clear expectations of involvement including a rotating membership of the board of the nursery, ensuring all parents play a role in governance and decision making. Shift patterns have been adjusted for parents to include wider support networks such as grandparents, reflecting the time pressures many families face.
3. Dandelion Daycare, Ontario, Canada
The parent co-op movement in Canada remains well established, including a network of regional support organisations. At Dandelion all parents are part of the mangement of the nursery, alongside all being on the rota to volunteer in the classroom alongside staff.
4. Playcentres, New Zealand
Each playcentre in New Zealand is run and administered by parents. They are based on a belief that the centres can play an important role in bringing communities together around the common experience of being parents. They also believe that there are real benefits for parents and children alike in families playing an active role with their children’s education.
Parent co-ops have operated in Germany since the 1970’s. Parent’s are all expected to play a role in the setting but in the majority of cases this is not within the classroom. Financial support from the federal government incentivises the establishment of parent co-ops.
2. Bannockburn, Washington DC, USA
The parent co-op movement in the US is well established. At Bannockburn parents have clear expectations of involvement including a rotating membership of the board of the nursery, ensuring all parents play a role in governance and decision making. Shift patterns have been adjusted for parents to include wider support networks such as grandparents, reflecting the time pressures many families face.
3. Dandelion Daycare, Ontario, Canada
The parent co-op movement in Canada remains well established, including a network of regional support organisations. At Dandelion all parents are part of the mangement of the nursery, alongside all being on the rota to volunteer in the classroom alongside staff.
4. Playcentres, New Zealand
Each playcentre in New Zealand is run and administered by parents. They are based on a belief that the centres can play an important role in bringing communities together around the common experience of being parents. They also believe that there are real benefits for parents and children alike in families playing an active role with their children’s education.
Summary - Key learning from the case studies
- Having a low rent will have a huge impact on financial sustainability. Many of the examples were set up with support to acquire a low rent premises. Finding local partners such as Housing Associations, Community organisations or councils who are able to provide low or no cost premises will be very important for new nurseries.
- A well-qualified nursery manager, who is enthusiastic about working with parents, is essential to the success of parent-led childcare. Where parents are playing a regular role the managers are clearly champions of this approach. There is more scepticism about parents’ role in the classroom from the managers that include parents only in management roles. This highlights the importance of parents being clear on the cultural and practical approach that they want to develop within their provision and being explicit about this when recruiting their staff team.
- Being parent led can help to make the provision more affordable. Exactly how much money is saved depends on the roles that parents take. The most intensive involvement includes parents in the classroom setting, either as part of the ratio or as additional to the core staff. Other parent-led provision focuses parental involvement in being part of the management team, supporting the organisation of the provision and additional tasks such as fundraising, maintenance and behind the scenes support. When setting up their provision parents will have to determine the optimum trade-off between fees, wages, rent and parental input.
- Some providers have found some parents struggling to do their childcare shifts. These providers have adjusted the levels of parental involvement to enable parents to do fewer or no shifts. In these examples parents pay a top-up fee. There has only been limited take-up of this option. Parents remain engaged in the non-classroom tasks, such as management meetings and fundraising.
- Training and support for parents varies across the different examples. Training combines both formal training in key areas such as safeguarding and first aid, plus informal mentoring and support.
- The mix of parents who start a nursery will likely determine the initial demographics of the intake. Gathering a diverse group of parents, who have certain common needs or interests (e.g. flexible childcare, passion for parental involvement, etc.) from the start would be beneficial.
UK Case Studies in more detail
Grasshoppers in the Park
Grasshoppers has been running for 16 years. It was started by a group of parents who looked after each other’s kids in their own homes, rotating between the houses. After doing this for a number of years, they decided to formalise the arrangement by setting up in a separate space. They are currently based in a community space in a housing estate in Hackney.
Business and operating model
The intake of the nursery is still predominantly middle class, with many parents from professional backgrounds with flexible jobs in the creative industries. Luciana works hard to diversify this, but it is challenging as the nursery is based in an affluent area. The values reflect the backgrounds of the parents, and there is a strong emphasis on exposing the children to art. The parents have agreed collectively that it is worth the cost of bringing in additional teachers for art, music, cooking and dancing. There is a feeling that social class does play a role in which families want to use the nursery – Luciana speculates that some may be intimidated by the idea of needing to play a role.
Training and qualifications
Grasshoppers employs five permanent staff, three of whom have university level qualifications. All staff are paid at least the London Living Wage. Parents are all additional adults beyond formal ratios. Parents who work in the nursery are all DBS checked. They are offered formal first aid training, and they also receive an induction to nursery guidelines on child protection and health and safety. Additional training has been organised in the past through Hackney Learning Trust. Luciana, the centre manager, notes that often when parents first start working alongside the nursery professionals, they do lots of the cleaning and clearing up. Over time, as they increase in confidence, they are encouraged and supported to bring more of their own skills and talents into the classroom. Parents and staff also gather to work on the garden and for some social events like the garden party or the pub quiz.
Governance
There are two parent co-directors at Grasshoppers who meet monthly with the centre manager and the parent responsible for finances. This small group takes those decisions that are necessary to support the day to day running of the centre. There is a whole parents meeting once a month and this forum is where big issues that would determine the future of Grasshoppers are discussed and voted on.
Key lessons
Luciana, the nursery manager, is key to Grasshopper’s success. One of the keys to the success of parent-led childcare is having professional staff that are able to coordinate parents and get the best from them.
Scallywags
Scallywags was founded in 1992 by a group of parents in Bethnal Green, London. There are 23 children registered and they cater for 16 children per session. Recently they have succeeded in attracting families with diverse backgrounds, including at least 4 funded two-year-olds, as well as children with special educational needs.
Business and operating model
Training and qualifications
Scallywags employs five staff part-time and full-time. On joining, parents undertake a sustained induction period, where they learn about the day-to-day working life of the setting and undertake shadow shifts as part of an Early Years team. During this period of induction, parents become familiar with policies and procedures, such health and safety, child protection, behavior and healthy eating requirements and routines, along with environmental standards. All parents are DBS checked before starting work at the nursery. Parents are entirely in charge of the kitchen.
Governance
Scallywags is run by parent committee, though all parents have a say in parent meetings held each term. They now describe themselves as a parent partnership rather than a parent run nursery. Scallywags has a board of trustees who are the governing body and are made up of volunteers who use their skills and expertise to help ensure the clear vision and growth of the nursery.
Key lessons
Debbie, the nursery manager, is key to their success: she has led the nursery from its revamp in 2005 until now. Low rent has also been important to their financial viability. Scallywags are unique in including parents in the parent-child ratio –this proves that it can be done successfully within OFSTED regulations
Happitimes nursery
The nursery has been running for 40 years. Stella has been managing the centre since 2001 but was deputy manager when Edith the previous manager was in post.
Business and operating model
Training and qualifications
The centre manager is qualified to a degree level. All staff are level 3 with one student on level 2 training towards level 3. Parents don’t have to be DBS checked as they will always have staff working alongside them. There is a list of parent tasks available to guide parent’s involvement each day. To support safeguarding parents do not perform intimate tasks such as nappy changing or taking a child to the toilet. Happitimes tries to respond to parents talents, ensuring that it is possible for parents to share particular skills and interests (like music or yoga) with the children. Parents bring a packed lunch for their children for each session (no food preparation is done on site).
Governance
Some parents are also on the management committee for Happitimes. Committee members do receive some training and have to do DBS checks. The committee own Happitimes. Every year the committee members are chosen at a meeting of parents. There are then committee meetings once per term plus a parent only meeting every half term.
Key learning
Happitimes has had to be flexible and able to adjust how it operates quite significantly in recent years. This has been driven by parents needs changing and changes in local circumstances. Over the last 2-3 years they have needed to take younger children (2-3 yr olds) due to more schools taking 3 year olds. This has had an impact on ratios, as a higher ratio is required for 2 year olds. The nursery used to run between 9 and 12 but extended to 8.30-3pm due to discussions with parents. They are currently in discussion about extending to be open from 8.30-6pm but have to work out the finances of this.
Collingham Gardens Nursery
Collingham Gardens is a nursery based in Bloomsbury, London. It was initially set up by Save the Children Fund with the agreement of Coram (who are the landowners). However, the current version of the nursery came into being in 1984, when the nursery lost funding and the parents decided to club together to employ staff themselves.
Business and operating model
Training and qualifications
Having above average salaries means they are able to recruit good staff with qualifications (degree or level 3) that tend to stay for a long time. Parents sign up to the nursery with an understanding of its ethos. There is an open day every two weeks for parents.
Governance
The management committee meets monthly to take important decisions about the nursery. It is made up of parents (the majority of whom are middle-class professionals) and staff.
Key lessons
The manager was adamant that it would be hard to set up somewhere like this nursery in London today. Finding a suitable building, with outdoor space, that is affordable is the key challenge.
Harpsden pre-school nursery
Harpsden was set up over 25 years ago. It runs out of a village hall outside Henley in Oxfordshire.
Business model and operating model
Governance
Harpsden is run by an elected committee. All those on the committee are parents and most of the committee members are women. The committee is the employer of the staff. The committee does a lot of fundraising, and organises community events around the nursery.
Key lessons
Safeguarding and training didn’t seem to be much of an issue when parents were actively involved in the day to day of Harpsden. Now the requirements are more stringent, the pre-school often doesn’t involve parents in trips etc.
They wouldn’t consider more parental involvement in the classroom - it’s not what parents want, the children are very happy, the staff are very experienced. They feel it would be difficult to deliver the stringent Ofsted requirements with parental involvement – it’s difficult enough with a parent committee.
Sandbrook Community Playgroup
Sandbrook Community Playgroup situated in Stoke Newington, London. It was started by a group of parents in the 1970s.
Business model and operating model
Training and qualifications
All the childcare staff are qualified, which is why they don’t have parents in the classroom.
Governance
Sandbrook is run by a committee made up of all the parents, some of which become officers (trustees and directors).
Key lessons
The parents lobbied the council and they got given a council house, which they currently rent for £5k a year. This is key to their sustainability.
Having parents running the management committee is difficult when it comes to making staff redundant or running disciplinary procedures.
ChildSpace, Brockwell, London
Childspace is a small parent co-op based in a community centre just next to Brockwell Park in South East London. It has been running for about ten years, and the current manager, Rashda, has been there for five of those.
Business model and operating model
Training and qualifications
Rashda is university qualified, Montessori trained and has a counselling background. She notes that this has proved crucial as she sees her role as supporting parents as much as working with the children. It is a mixed intake of parents and Rashda notes that working with them - mediating, facilitating and supporting them - is an essential part of making the group dynamic work. All new parents are given an induction, including some training around child development. Over time, they are expected to design an activity in line with the session agenda that has been set by Rashda. Each parent is also expected to provide lunch for everyone on their duty day.
Governance
There are monthly meetings, held at parents’ houses, that everyone attends. While Rashda is responsible for child development and quality issues, parents are collectively responsible for the running of the nursery. Parents take it in turns to assume responsibility for different issues, such as recruitment, communications, health and safety, and purchasing. There are a wide range of families attending. All of them have at least one parent who is working flexibly - for example in evening and weekend shifts. Many of the parents share the nursery commitments between the mother and the father.
Key learning
The strong sense of community is clear. The founding cohort of Childspace children continue to go on annual camping trips. Parents frequently collect their kids and then go together to play in the park for the afternoon.
Involvement in Childspace has an ongoing impact on parents skills and the home learning environment. One parent commented that it’s made her more tolerant; another said she’d learnt so much about letting children work things out for themselves; another still noted that her experience had given her the confidence to help kids work through their feelings.
Grasshoppers has been running for 16 years. It was started by a group of parents who looked after each other’s kids in their own homes, rotating between the houses. After doing this for a number of years, they decided to formalise the arrangement by setting up in a separate space. They are currently based in a community space in a housing estate in Hackney.
Business and operating model
- There are 30 families involved with Grasshoppers. The nursery caters for 2-5 year olds and is open from 8am to 6pm. Grasshoppers has decided to work with up to 20 children per day. Ofsted would allow them to take more children but Grasshoppers decided to cap the numbers to make sure they can give the children the right attention and care.
- All parent are required to take on a role, which keeps fees down. Parents with more time help out in the classroom a day a week. Parents with less time help with activities such as gardening and DIY, laundry & sewing, social events (with and without the children), and fundraising and accounting.
- Costs for parents are determined by household income, and by how many hours their child attends Grasshoppers. Households with less than £25,000 income pay £38.22 per session for 5 full days; this figure is £43.26 for households on an income of £25-50,000, and £44.52 for households earning more than £50,000. Parents who take on a small role in nursery life get a discount of £40 per month; those who take on a more demanding role get a discount of £80 a month. Parents who opt to do ‘duty days’ once a week are entitled to a monthly discount of £120. Furthermore they do not pay the fees for the day they are working in the nursery. Only parents whose children attend for three long days or three short days or more can choose this option, and they cannot ask family members or other carers to take on this role. Grasshoppers provides the free 15 hours (18 hours in total) for up to five low income parents who don't use any additional hours.
- They have a total operating budget of around £142,000 each year, made up of roughly two-thirds parent fees, and one-third funding for the free entitlement from Hackney Learning Trust.
The intake of the nursery is still predominantly middle class, with many parents from professional backgrounds with flexible jobs in the creative industries. Luciana works hard to diversify this, but it is challenging as the nursery is based in an affluent area. The values reflect the backgrounds of the parents, and there is a strong emphasis on exposing the children to art. The parents have agreed collectively that it is worth the cost of bringing in additional teachers for art, music, cooking and dancing. There is a feeling that social class does play a role in which families want to use the nursery – Luciana speculates that some may be intimidated by the idea of needing to play a role.
Training and qualifications
Grasshoppers employs five permanent staff, three of whom have university level qualifications. All staff are paid at least the London Living Wage. Parents are all additional adults beyond formal ratios. Parents who work in the nursery are all DBS checked. They are offered formal first aid training, and they also receive an induction to nursery guidelines on child protection and health and safety. Additional training has been organised in the past through Hackney Learning Trust. Luciana, the centre manager, notes that often when parents first start working alongside the nursery professionals, they do lots of the cleaning and clearing up. Over time, as they increase in confidence, they are encouraged and supported to bring more of their own skills and talents into the classroom. Parents and staff also gather to work on the garden and for some social events like the garden party or the pub quiz.
Governance
There are two parent co-directors at Grasshoppers who meet monthly with the centre manager and the parent responsible for finances. This small group takes those decisions that are necessary to support the day to day running of the centre. There is a whole parents meeting once a month and this forum is where big issues that would determine the future of Grasshoppers are discussed and voted on.
Key lessons
Luciana, the nursery manager, is key to Grasshopper’s success. One of the keys to the success of parent-led childcare is having professional staff that are able to coordinate parents and get the best from them.
Scallywags
Scallywags was founded in 1992 by a group of parents in Bethnal Green, London. There are 23 children registered and they cater for 16 children per session. Recently they have succeeded in attracting families with diverse backgrounds, including at least 4 funded two-year-olds, as well as children with special educational needs.
Business and operating model
- All parents are involved in the nursery except the parents of special needs children who are in need of respite and parents of children with referrals from social services. Parents perform a wide range of activities. They are also involved in the classroom and make up part of the ratio - this can be managed with Ofsted. There are always at least 3 parents helping in the classroom at any one time. Parents are on duty once a week if their child is there full-time and once a fortnight if their child is there part-time. They are also involved in defining the policy of the nursery, as well as maintenance and fundraising. Two of the parents have become key workers, one of whom leads the nurseries forest school activities. Almost half of the parents involved are fathers and the nursery also has some involvement from grandparents and childminders.
- Scallywags is significantly cheaper than the average childcare in London due to the work done by parents. Fees are £15 for a session running from 9 AM to 1:30 PM. They receive 15 hours funding for all three and four-year-olds and funding for at least 4 two-year-olds on their books. They used to receive a grant from Tower Hamlets but that stopped last year.
- Historically, low rent has enabled them to keep fees low. Losing the grant from Tower Hamlets and the threat of an imminent rent increase means that they are now having to think of new ways to keep fees low. They may try renting out their hall, expanding their numbers, or taking on more two-year-olds in order to balance the books.
Training and qualifications
Scallywags employs five staff part-time and full-time. On joining, parents undertake a sustained induction period, where they learn about the day-to-day working life of the setting and undertake shadow shifts as part of an Early Years team. During this period of induction, parents become familiar with policies and procedures, such health and safety, child protection, behavior and healthy eating requirements and routines, along with environmental standards. All parents are DBS checked before starting work at the nursery. Parents are entirely in charge of the kitchen.
Governance
Scallywags is run by parent committee, though all parents have a say in parent meetings held each term. They now describe themselves as a parent partnership rather than a parent run nursery. Scallywags has a board of trustees who are the governing body and are made up of volunteers who use their skills and expertise to help ensure the clear vision and growth of the nursery.
Key lessons
Debbie, the nursery manager, is key to their success: she has led the nursery from its revamp in 2005 until now. Low rent has also been important to their financial viability. Scallywags are unique in including parents in the parent-child ratio –this proves that it can be done successfully within OFSTED regulations
Happitimes nursery
The nursery has been running for 40 years. Stella has been managing the centre since 2001 but was deputy manager when Edith the previous manager was in post.
Business and operating model
- Happitimes is open between 8.30am and 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time (39 weeks a year). Morning, afternoon and all day sessions are available. They take children from 2 years to school age. Parents are able to use their free 15 hours for 3 and 4 year olds and eligible 2 year olds. Extra hours for 3 and 4 year olds and unfunded 2 year olds are charged at £4.50 per hour.
- Happitimes is a non-profit-making organisation and a registered charity. They are able to have 30 children on the role in total and currently have 24 registered. There are up to 16 children at each session, cared for by three professional early years practitioners and one or two parent helpers. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, the playgroup also runs a drop-in stay and play session for parents and carers and their children. This gives new parents a chance to try them out.
- Happitimes has to pay a rent for the building. They rent out the space at weekends for parties/ children’s clubs to help to cover the costs.
- The rota system expects parents to give 3 hours of time every two weeks if their child is full-time in the provision. Shifts are less frequent if children use the centre less frequently. The committee advertise the nursery locally but most people find out about Happitimes through word of mouth. The parents involved have a mix of income levels but all are working
- The aim is to have two parents per day helping out. Paid staff are in place to ensure the statutory ratio requirements are covered. Parents are additional to the ratio but their involvement either improves the number of adults available to support the children or allows the centre management to perform additional tasks away from the children to improve the setting whilst being confident that the ratios are right for the children.
- Parent involvement is part of the parents contract. There is an extra charge of £20 per month if parent are unable to do their shifts. Some parents have said they are worried about the shifts. Happitimes is able to accept a family’s childminder to cover the rota slot and grandparents also cover the slots. There is an example of one grandparent who regularly travels from Manchester to help with the rota slot. They have said they enjoy taking part and like to see how their grandchild is interacting with their peers.
Training and qualifications
The centre manager is qualified to a degree level. All staff are level 3 with one student on level 2 training towards level 3. Parents don’t have to be DBS checked as they will always have staff working alongside them. There is a list of parent tasks available to guide parent’s involvement each day. To support safeguarding parents do not perform intimate tasks such as nappy changing or taking a child to the toilet. Happitimes tries to respond to parents talents, ensuring that it is possible for parents to share particular skills and interests (like music or yoga) with the children. Parents bring a packed lunch for their children for each session (no food preparation is done on site).
Governance
Some parents are also on the management committee for Happitimes. Committee members do receive some training and have to do DBS checks. The committee own Happitimes. Every year the committee members are chosen at a meeting of parents. There are then committee meetings once per term plus a parent only meeting every half term.
Key learning
Happitimes has had to be flexible and able to adjust how it operates quite significantly in recent years. This has been driven by parents needs changing and changes in local circumstances. Over the last 2-3 years they have needed to take younger children (2-3 yr olds) due to more schools taking 3 year olds. This has had an impact on ratios, as a higher ratio is required for 2 year olds. The nursery used to run between 9 and 12 but extended to 8.30-3pm due to discussions with parents. They are currently in discussion about extending to be open from 8.30-6pm but have to work out the finances of this.
Collingham Gardens Nursery
Collingham Gardens is a nursery based in Bloomsbury, London. It was initially set up by Save the Children Fund with the agreement of Coram (who are the landowners). However, the current version of the nursery came into being in 1984, when the nursery lost funding and the parents decided to club together to employ staff themselves.
Business and operating model
- They have an intake of 24 children with mixed backgrounds. 4 of the children qualify for the 2 year olds scheme (and they tend to need more support). All the children come from the local area and the nursery is full. Some of the children come part time. The nursery is able to offer just the government hours, but only if the child comes for two full days in a row - not spread out across the week. If they took more children they could take more children on the 2 year old scheme, but they might also risk being too large to be run by a parent-led management committee.
- Collingham Gardens employs 11 staff (the majority of whom are part-time). Due to having historically low rent, they are able to pay their staff above the sectoral average (starting salary is £20k and they try to keep up with the cost of living) whilst managing to keep their fees low. They also vary their fees depending on the income of the parents, with higher earning parents paying more.
- They are open from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. It is unusual to open for such short hours but they are able to justify this to parents on a number of counts. First, because most of the parents live and work nearby, the majority of them can work around these hours. Second, the shorter hours mean that the staff can work the whole day, rather than splitting the day into two shifts. This keeps the cost lower for families and also means that the parents see the same staff when they drop off their kids in the morning and pick them up in the evening.
- Parents raise £2k a year outside of fees. Fees are set by looking at the running costs and then dividing it by the number of children. They do have income bands, with higher income parents paying higher fees. They plan their budget based on 23 low income children because that gives them more flexibility.
- In general the ethos of the nursery is very clear - the parents are told that their child will get dirty, etc. They sign a contract saying they commit to helping in whatever way they can - from DIY, to management, to organising a fete, etc. Some parents do a lot to help, some do a little, and some do nothing at all. However, parents do not make up any of the staff to children ratio. The manager feels that parents would be too unreliable to make up the ratio, and also that it would be difficult to do with Ofsted (DBS checks etc).
Training and qualifications
Having above average salaries means they are able to recruit good staff with qualifications (degree or level 3) that tend to stay for a long time. Parents sign up to the nursery with an understanding of its ethos. There is an open day every two weeks for parents.
Governance
The management committee meets monthly to take important decisions about the nursery. It is made up of parents (the majority of whom are middle-class professionals) and staff.
Key lessons
The manager was adamant that it would be hard to set up somewhere like this nursery in London today. Finding a suitable building, with outdoor space, that is affordable is the key challenge.
Harpsden pre-school nursery
Harpsden was set up over 25 years ago. It runs out of a village hall outside Henley in Oxfordshire.
Business model and operating model
- There are 19 children currently on the books and it is open four mornings and two afternoons a week, with four members of staff in the morning and three in the afternoon. Most mornings, there is also a fifth member of staff doing admin or nursery management tasks.
- It is mostly very affluent families, partly because of the area and the accessibility of the venue. There are peaks and troughs in Harpsden’s income- last year they made a small profit. Parents pay a top up, and the cost of the village hall is very low.
- 15 years ago, there was a parent helper at every session. However, they decided to move away from this model for a number of reasons:
- It didn’t work that well- some parents only wanted to play with their child, some weren’t that good at getting stuck in, some children were too clingy to their parents for that parent to be useful in the pre-school, some children found it unsettling that their parents was there one day and not the next
- Lots of parents weren’t able to work in the nursery-they workedIt wasn’t what parents wanted- they wanted childcare, to use that time to do other things
- The nursery generated enough money to employ more people
- When parents were involved, they helped with tasks like washing up, crafts and tidying up. They didn’t take children to the toilet. Now, parents still help with doing the laundry and providing snacks. They also sometimes come into the nursery to lend a hand, or talk about their job, but are not involved in the day-to-day routine.
Governance
Harpsden is run by an elected committee. All those on the committee are parents and most of the committee members are women. The committee is the employer of the staff. The committee does a lot of fundraising, and organises community events around the nursery.
Key lessons
Safeguarding and training didn’t seem to be much of an issue when parents were actively involved in the day to day of Harpsden. Now the requirements are more stringent, the pre-school often doesn’t involve parents in trips etc.
They wouldn’t consider more parental involvement in the classroom - it’s not what parents want, the children are very happy, the staff are very experienced. They feel it would be difficult to deliver the stringent Ofsted requirements with parental involvement – it’s difficult enough with a parent committee.
Sandbrook Community Playgroup
Sandbrook Community Playgroup situated in Stoke Newington, London. It was started by a group of parents in the 1970s.
Business model and operating model
- The playgroup has 36 children on its books from a total of 35 families. They take a maximum of 18 children at a time. The children range from 27 months to 5 years old and spend between 3 and 30 hours a week at the playgroup.
- They are open from 9am-4pm five days a week. They used to offer only mornings but there was demand for more hours from parents. They have made their offer more flexible: 9-12, lunch club, then afternoon sessions which are ad hoc. They pick up from local schools as well.
- The business is relatively sustainable but it is getting harder as costs rise and funding dries up. Fees are £11 for 3-4 year olds for 3 hour session and £16 for 2 year olds. They try to keep fees as low as they can but ask those that can afford to to pay more. Some parents donate a lot of time. They do not ask for a deposit in order not to deter people who can’t afford it. This means that they lose money occasionally. They raise £5k from donations and fundraising. The subsidised childcare grant they receive from Hackney Council has got smaller and is now £30k a year.
- They mostly find new families through word of mouth. They advertise through their website, Facebook page, Stokey Parents Facebook page and posters in local shops.
- Parents don’t come into the classroom. But parents do a lot of work fund raising, cleaning and promoting the nursery. They do occasionally come in to the classroom, but the children might play up if parents come it. It gets complicated.
- The demographics of the families is mixed but increasingly affluent as the area changes. There are lots of parents that work part time or work from home. They have five 2 year old funded children and they need 80% occupancy to break even. They allow children to come just for the free hours.
- They employ 7 people in total – 1 administrator, 1 cleaner and 5 childcare professionals.
Training and qualifications
All the childcare staff are qualified, which is why they don’t have parents in the classroom.
Governance
Sandbrook is run by a committee made up of all the parents, some of which become officers (trustees and directors).
Key lessons
The parents lobbied the council and they got given a council house, which they currently rent for £5k a year. This is key to their sustainability.
Having parents running the management committee is difficult when it comes to making staff redundant or running disciplinary procedures.
ChildSpace, Brockwell, London
Childspace is a small parent co-op based in a community centre just next to Brockwell Park in South East London. It has been running for about ten years, and the current manager, Rashda, has been there for five of those.
Business model and operating model
- Childspace serves 10 families at any one time, and is able to provide care for three under-2s and four children aged two or more in each session. Sessions run from 9am until 2pm, three days a week. Rashda runs each session with a parent volunteer. They work with the whole group of children, tailoring the activities for the different ages present. Each session costs £24 to the parents, and the nursery is wholly funded by these contributions, as most of the children move to a pre-school before they qualify for their free entitlement hours.
- There are clear expectations of parents - both in terms of their values and the commitments expected of them. Prospective parents are interviewed, and they are invited to complete a questionnaire. The other parents note that this often helps new parents to understand at an early stage how Childspace is different to other nurseries, and the focus on it being a community for the whole family, rather than the children alone.
- Rashda organises the nursery by a 7-week rota. In any given seven weeks, a parent would be expected to complete the same number of duty days as their child attends each week. In other words, the parent of a child attending three days a week would be expected to complete three duty days each seven week cycle. Childspace has found that parents can’t always commit to this, and so they are permitted to convert up to two of these duty days into ‘associate days’ - these are charged at £31 to cover the additional costs of bringing in extra staff for that session. Three of the ten parents are currently using at least one associate day to fulfil their co-op duties.
Training and qualifications
Rashda is university qualified, Montessori trained and has a counselling background. She notes that this has proved crucial as she sees her role as supporting parents as much as working with the children. It is a mixed intake of parents and Rashda notes that working with them - mediating, facilitating and supporting them - is an essential part of making the group dynamic work. All new parents are given an induction, including some training around child development. Over time, they are expected to design an activity in line with the session agenda that has been set by Rashda. Each parent is also expected to provide lunch for everyone on their duty day.
Governance
There are monthly meetings, held at parents’ houses, that everyone attends. While Rashda is responsible for child development and quality issues, parents are collectively responsible for the running of the nursery. Parents take it in turns to assume responsibility for different issues, such as recruitment, communications, health and safety, and purchasing. There are a wide range of families attending. All of them have at least one parent who is working flexibly - for example in evening and weekend shifts. Many of the parents share the nursery commitments between the mother and the father.
Key learning
The strong sense of community is clear. The founding cohort of Childspace children continue to go on annual camping trips. Parents frequently collect their kids and then go together to play in the park for the afternoon.
Involvement in Childspace has an ongoing impact on parents skills and the home learning environment. One parent commented that it’s made her more tolerant; another said she’d learnt so much about letting children work things out for themselves; another still noted that her experience had given her the confidence to help kids work through their feelings.
International Case Studies in more detail
Klein Kinder Tagesstatten e.V. an umbrella organisation for parent cooperatives in Munich
The German model of parent coops has been around since the 1970s. It mainly exists in urban centers, though even in rural areas she estimated that it might reach 10% of children. In Munich, it provides for around 20% of kids (more if you count by number of nurseries, but each nursery takes less children). They are also widespread in other big cities such as Berlin, Hanover, Munster, and Nuremberg, but not so much in Cologne, and much less in former East Germany as there was no tradition of it there during communism.
The criteria for membership of this umbrella organisation (KTT) is that all parents are members, all are volunteers, and all have children in one of the settings.
The children are always looked after by qualified professionals. Parents can only be assistants in an emergency or if staff are sick, or they can be additional support, but mostly they provide admin support.
Business and operating model
The key enabling factor for parent coops in Munich and Germany in general is the direct funding they receive from state and municipal government.
Bannockburn, Washington D.C.
Bannockburn was established in 1951 by a group of parents looking to pool their childcare needs. It incorporated as a co-operative in 1975, and the parents hired three teachers to work alongside them in the classrooms, which were set up in a neighbourhood community centre that continues to be the home of the co-operative today.
Business model and operating model
Training and qualifications
Parents are given some introductory training and orientation when they first join, but the emphasis is on learning through doing. On any one day, there will be 6 parents in the nursery, and 3 teachers. Bannockburn also hire an aide who can go to wherever support is needed, or to meet ratio requirements. Angie comments that she looks for resilient staff who can take feedback from the parents, and also staff who are willing to help parents to do a good job, building their confidence and encouraging them to get fully involved in the classroom.
Governance
Most parents have a period when they sit on the board (made up of 14 parents and the nursery manager).
Key Learning
The co-op has recognised that some families are struggling to fulfil their shifts in the co-op so have created a ways in which parents can play a more limited role. Families who are doing low or no shifts have to pay higher fees in order to allow the provision to hire additional staff to cover the shifts.
Dandelion Daycare, Ontario, Canada
The Dandelion Daycare Co-op was founded in 2007 by a group of parents who wanted to play an active role in raising their children, while maintaining their working lives. Initially based in one of the members’ homes, the centre now runs out of a Salvation Army building.
Business model and operating model
Training and qualifications
On their duty days parents are expected to set up the daycare space, provide a morning snack, take the kids on a morning outing, provide and prepare lunch, settle the children for nap time, provide an afternoon snack and update the other parents at pick-up time. They don’t get formal training, but they do shadow an existing parent to understand the role and responsibilities. Parents have jointly purchased training of mutual interest in the past. Families attending the co-op are a diverse mix, but all of them have some kind of flexibility in their working patterns. Both fathers and mothers deliver the duty days at the nursery. Most families remain involved for an average of three years.
Governance
All parents meet together with staff once every other month, to cover any day-to-day issues, track the children’s progress, and plan session content. In addition there are monthly General Meetings to discuss operational matters such as staff payment and family recruitment. From finances to professional development to buildings management, parents look after the nursery business, leaving the qualified professionals they employ to focus on quality issues.
Key learning
The future of Dandelion is currently in question thanks to new legislation being introduced in Ontario later this year, which caps the number of children allowed in a non-licensed setting to five. This would make the current model of the co-op unsustainable, and the current family members are considering their options, should this new legislation be implemented.
Playcentres, New Zealand
The Playcentre movement in New Zealand began when mothers got together while their husbands were at war. Their aim was to provide social and emotional support to one another, while bringing up their children together. A Federation of Playcentres was formed in 1948, based on the philosophies of child-initiated play, and the importance of parents as educators of their children. Membership peaked in the 1970s at around 600 centres. Today membership stands at around 440 centres. The Federation attribute this decline to a number of factors, including the ‘professionalisation’ of childcare, the increasing demand for full-day childcare thanks to parents working longer hours, and a growing emphasis on educating very young children as well as caring for them.
Business model and operating model
Training and qualifications
Playcentres do not employ qualified early education professionals, and as parent-led provision, they are regulated differently to New Zealand’s teacher-led settings. They are still expected to comply with universal quality standards relating to buildings, equipment and activities offered. In keeping with their early emphasis on adult education, and to meet regulatory requirements, the Federation offers a parenting qualification to all those involved. This is free to all Playcentre members. It focuses on three core elements: child development, parenting skills and organisational development. To qualify for government funding, Playcentres need to ensure that the parents running the centre to hold appropriate levels of the Playcentre qualification. Other parents with fewer qualifications can work alongside these parents to meet the ratio requirements.
Governance
Each Playcentre is run and administered by local parents.
Key learning
Training and development for parents is a critical factor in this approach. Parents are offered a qualification to reflect their involvement and ongoing learning.
The German model of parent coops has been around since the 1970s. It mainly exists in urban centers, though even in rural areas she estimated that it might reach 10% of children. In Munich, it provides for around 20% of kids (more if you count by number of nurseries, but each nursery takes less children). They are also widespread in other big cities such as Berlin, Hanover, Munster, and Nuremberg, but not so much in Cologne, and much less in former East Germany as there was no tradition of it there during communism.
The criteria for membership of this umbrella organisation (KTT) is that all parents are members, all are volunteers, and all have children in one of the settings.
The children are always looked after by qualified professionals. Parents can only be assistants in an emergency or if staff are sick, or they can be additional support, but mostly they provide admin support.
Business and operating model
- The way that parent coops are financed depends from state to state (Germany is federal). In Bavaria, as long as providers meet certain requirements (regardless of whether they are state, private, or parent-led) they get 60% of their costs covered by the state. In Munich, there is additional support just for parent-led groups that helps them cover up to 80% of their staff and premises costs. But this extra funding is at the discretion of the city council.
- Parents choose this type of nursery rather than a state or private nursery because they get more understanding, involvement and control of how the setting is shaped and how provision is done. They also choose it because the groups are smaller – a maximum of 12 kids, rather than 150 kids in some of the big nurseries in Germany. They can also influence decisions about how the setting works. They do not choose it because it is cheaper: it is cheaper than private nurseries, but in relation to state nurseries it is cheaper for under 3s, but the same cost or more expensive for 3-6s, and mostly more expensive for 6-10 year olds. In terms of the type of families that join parent coops, income levels are mixed, but most are highly educated / culturally middle-class.
The key enabling factor for parent coops in Munich and Germany in general is the direct funding they receive from state and municipal government.
Bannockburn, Washington D.C.
Bannockburn was established in 1951 by a group of parents looking to pool their childcare needs. It incorporated as a co-operative in 1975, and the parents hired three teachers to work alongside them in the classrooms, which were set up in a neighbourhood community centre that continues to be the home of the co-operative today.
Business model and operating model
- Bannockburn serves 40 families with children between two and five years old, who are spread across four different classes. It has a total operating budget of $230,000, made up almost entirely of parent fees and fundraising efforts. There are daily sessions that run between 9.30am and 12pm each day, although parents can pay for extra non co-operative hours to extend this to 2.30pm if they choose. Costs are significantly lower than non co-op nurseries - Bannockburn charges $4,000 a year for 5 days a week, compared to a standard nursery rate in that area of around $8,000.
- Parents have some clearly set out co-oping duties. Everyone is expected to give approximately 15 hours a year to work on school maintenance - painting, cleaning, preparing the school for a new year and so on. Parents have ‘duty days’ where they work alongside staff in the classrooms. These are more intensive when children are younger, thanks to ratio rules. On average, parents with a child going to Bannockburn full time would be expected to do a duty session once a fortnight.
- Bannockburn has found as time has gone on that some parents are struggling with the co-op commitment. It introduced a category of ‘limited co-opers’. These parents are only asked to undertake a duty day once every 4 to 6 weeks, but they pay 1.5 times the co-op fee, to cover the cost of the additional staff time required in the absence of the parent. Last year, Bannockburn decided to introduce a complete opt-out of duty days to parents, in exchange for paying double the fees - although parents are still are expected to undertake the other co-op duties. The co-op now allows other family members to undertake the duty days, although it does not allow childminders or nannies to do the job. Of the current forty families, none have chosen to fully opt out, 8 have taken the option to be limited co-opers, and the rest are fully engaged in the co-operative elements.
Training and qualifications
Parents are given some introductory training and orientation when they first join, but the emphasis is on learning through doing. On any one day, there will be 6 parents in the nursery, and 3 teachers. Bannockburn also hire an aide who can go to wherever support is needed, or to meet ratio requirements. Angie comments that she looks for resilient staff who can take feedback from the parents, and also staff who are willing to help parents to do a good job, building their confidence and encouraging them to get fully involved in the classroom.
Governance
Most parents have a period when they sit on the board (made up of 14 parents and the nursery manager).
Key Learning
The co-op has recognised that some families are struggling to fulfil their shifts in the co-op so have created a ways in which parents can play a more limited role. Families who are doing low or no shifts have to pay higher fees in order to allow the provision to hire additional staff to cover the shifts.
Dandelion Daycare, Ontario, Canada
The Dandelion Daycare Co-op was founded in 2007 by a group of parents who wanted to play an active role in raising their children, while maintaining their working lives. Initially based in one of the members’ homes, the centre now runs out of a Salvation Army building.
Business model and operating model
- Dandelion provides care for up to six children between the ages of 18 months and 5 years. Dandelion operates five days a week, between 8.30am and 5.30pm, and children can attend between two and four days a week. It has a total operating budget of around $50,000 a year, all of which is paid for through parental contributions or fundraising efforts.
- Costs for parents are lower than the Toronto average: $51 per day, compared to the average for under-2s of $77 per day. While that daily charge is higher than the Toronto average for 3-5 year olds ($46 per day), Dandelion chooses to keep its ratios significantly higher - 1:3, compared to the Ontario requirement of 1:8 for under- 3s, and 1:12 for 3-5 year olds. The co-op employs two qualified early childhood educators. One covers all the morning shifts; the other all the afternoon shifts. Parents working duty days do full days to support these professionals.
- Dandelion’s recruitment involves current parents interviewing potential families to learn more about their approach to parenting. The co-op looks for parents who share an interest in Reggio Emilia approaches and who wish to promote social justice. Once they join, parents are expected to undertake duty days, which are calculated based on how many days their child attends. In each six week cycle, for each day a week that a child is at Dandelion, the parents are responsible for one duty day (for example, with a child doing 2 days per week, the parents would do 2 duty days within the 6 week cycle).
Training and qualifications
On their duty days parents are expected to set up the daycare space, provide a morning snack, take the kids on a morning outing, provide and prepare lunch, settle the children for nap time, provide an afternoon snack and update the other parents at pick-up time. They don’t get formal training, but they do shadow an existing parent to understand the role and responsibilities. Parents have jointly purchased training of mutual interest in the past. Families attending the co-op are a diverse mix, but all of them have some kind of flexibility in their working patterns. Both fathers and mothers deliver the duty days at the nursery. Most families remain involved for an average of three years.
Governance
All parents meet together with staff once every other month, to cover any day-to-day issues, track the children’s progress, and plan session content. In addition there are monthly General Meetings to discuss operational matters such as staff payment and family recruitment. From finances to professional development to buildings management, parents look after the nursery business, leaving the qualified professionals they employ to focus on quality issues.
Key learning
The future of Dandelion is currently in question thanks to new legislation being introduced in Ontario later this year, which caps the number of children allowed in a non-licensed setting to five. This would make the current model of the co-op unsustainable, and the current family members are considering their options, should this new legislation be implemented.
Playcentres, New Zealand
The Playcentre movement in New Zealand began when mothers got together while their husbands were at war. Their aim was to provide social and emotional support to one another, while bringing up their children together. A Federation of Playcentres was formed in 1948, based on the philosophies of child-initiated play, and the importance of parents as educators of their children. Membership peaked in the 1970s at around 600 centres. Today membership stands at around 440 centres. The Federation attribute this decline to a number of factors, including the ‘professionalisation’ of childcare, the increasing demand for full-day childcare thanks to parents working longer hours, and a growing emphasis on educating very young children as well as caring for them.
Business model and operating model
- Playcentres typically offer care for up to four hours a day, in a mixed age setting. Sessions tend to involve children from the ages of 18 months to four years, although it can be up to six years old, when school starts formally. There is great variation in how many families are involved in any one Playcentre - although the average is 10 to 15 families, most of whom remain involved for about three years.
- All the funding for Playcentres is provided by the Ministry of Education. In addition, most Playcentres ask for a termly donation, or a donation based on the number of hours each child attends. But these are not significant: on average ‘fees’ are less than NZ$1 per session. There is additional government funding for 20 hours of childcare per week for all 3-5 year olds, although Playcentres have reported that they can struggle to deliver these, as they do not offer the care in the blocks of hours that full-day providers do.
- There is a strong ethos that has been part of the Playcentre movement since it began. They are based on a belief that the centres can play an important role in bringing communities together around the common experience of being parents. They also believe that there are real benefits for parents and children alike in families playing an active role with their children’s education.
Training and qualifications
Playcentres do not employ qualified early education professionals, and as parent-led provision, they are regulated differently to New Zealand’s teacher-led settings. They are still expected to comply with universal quality standards relating to buildings, equipment and activities offered. In keeping with their early emphasis on adult education, and to meet regulatory requirements, the Federation offers a parenting qualification to all those involved. This is free to all Playcentre members. It focuses on three core elements: child development, parenting skills and organisational development. To qualify for government funding, Playcentres need to ensure that the parents running the centre to hold appropriate levels of the Playcentre qualification. Other parents with fewer qualifications can work alongside these parents to meet the ratio requirements.
Governance
Each Playcentre is run and administered by local parents.
Key learning
Training and development for parents is a critical factor in this approach. Parents are offered a qualification to reflect their involvement and ongoing learning.
|
|
|
|
|
|