Our Methodology and Your Starting Points.
Going from an empty building, to a thriving nursery setting involves various steps. Some activity has taken place concurrently, whilst others have needed to be sequenced in a particular order. Our model for co-production is based on research and experience, and uses our relationships with our physical space, alongside our human relationships to collectively develop a high quality, parent-led community childcare setting.
There are 3 key areas to think about when co-producing a nursery with your community:
Building Relationships - The People, working with parents, childcare professionals and the wider community
Building Your Space - The physical environment, finding and developing a site suitable to provide high quality early years care, which could include permanent buildings, pack away play spaces, or outdoor classrooms
Setting up Your Service - The statutory requirements and regulations, working with your people, your space and the relevant early years frameworks to develop a high quality approach that meets the needs of local children and their families
In this tool kit we have collected information under each of these 3 key areas, explaining why they are important and giving you information for taking them forward. Every parent-led nursery will evolve differently, reflecting the assets and resources they begin with and the needs of the community they work with. The three key areas form a framework to guide activity. Some areas run alongside each other and at different points there may be more work to do on some areas before progress can be made in another.
From our experience and research you can expect following a co-production model to help you:
Building your relationships
Building your space
Setting up your service
Depending on who you are and what resources you already have you may be starting your co-produced childcare journey from a number of departure points:
Are you starting with ‘relationships’ in place?
Perhaps you are a group of parents who have been successful in stopping your local nursery from closing and you want to maintain parental involvement. Or you are a group that has been supporting each other informally but now want to get more established so that you access government support like tax free childcare or universal credit and the ‘free hours’ funding. Developing co-produced childcare gives you the opportunity to build childcare that works for the children and families from your community, offering stable ongoing support that learns from the skills and experiences of childcare professionals.
Are you starting with a ‘space’ already found?
Perhaps you are a social housing provider or local authority whose residents are struggling to access the affordable childcare they need. Developing affordable, high quality co-produced childcare, through offering discounted rent, could give residents the opportunity to develop skills and confidence, take up employment or training opportunities, increasing their household income.
You might be a community based organisation that has underutilised space and is interested in moving from informal activities, like stay and play sessions, into a more structured offer for local families. Delivering childcare can offer an opportunity to generate ongoing income for your organisation whilst meeting the needs of local families
Are you starting with an existing 'service already up and running?
Are you an existing childcare provider who wants to deepen your engagement with parents and families at your setting. Co-producing childcare enables you to connect with and benefit from the diverse skills and experience’s of the parents and community around your setting. Co-producing childcare in this way builds on the confidence of parents and supports them in their parenting outside of your nursery setting.
Are you starting as an 'instigator' group
In some cases there will be groups or organisations that are in place to lead this work. In other cases it may be led by an individual instigator with a vision who needs to develop activity across all three areas outlined above. Instigators could be individuals or community groups, funders, investors or local government who want to make change happen.
There are 3 key areas to think about when co-producing a nursery with your community:
Building Relationships - The People, working with parents, childcare professionals and the wider community
Building Your Space - The physical environment, finding and developing a site suitable to provide high quality early years care, which could include permanent buildings, pack away play spaces, or outdoor classrooms
Setting up Your Service - The statutory requirements and regulations, working with your people, your space and the relevant early years frameworks to develop a high quality approach that meets the needs of local children and their families
In this tool kit we have collected information under each of these 3 key areas, explaining why they are important and giving you information for taking them forward. Every parent-led nursery will evolve differently, reflecting the assets and resources they begin with and the needs of the community they work with. The three key areas form a framework to guide activity. Some areas run alongside each other and at different points there may be more work to do on some areas before progress can be made in another.
From our experience and research you can expect following a co-production model to help you:
Building your relationships
- Develop a creative skill set within your team and wider community
- Unlock the skills of members of your community
- Model the collaboration you want to see within your setting once it is up and running
Building your space
- Create a physical environment that matches your collective ambitions for your community led childcare setting
- Create flexible spaces with personality, a human touch and a warm welcome that reflect their wider community
- Use a structured framework for designing your space without excessive professional input
- Maintain momentum and make progress visible
- Make extra use of capital funding
- Use as a basis for further funding applications
Setting up your service
- Establish an inclusive, accessible and fun approach from the outset
- Embed your values into every aspect of your setting
- Provide the opportunity to explore ideas before committing (making it more likely to get it right first time)
- Set the tone for quality
- Draw out, translate and develop your collective pedagogical thinking
Depending on who you are and what resources you already have you may be starting your co-produced childcare journey from a number of departure points:
Are you starting with ‘relationships’ in place?
Perhaps you are a group of parents who have been successful in stopping your local nursery from closing and you want to maintain parental involvement. Or you are a group that has been supporting each other informally but now want to get more established so that you access government support like tax free childcare or universal credit and the ‘free hours’ funding. Developing co-produced childcare gives you the opportunity to build childcare that works for the children and families from your community, offering stable ongoing support that learns from the skills and experiences of childcare professionals.
Are you starting with a ‘space’ already found?
Perhaps you are a social housing provider or local authority whose residents are struggling to access the affordable childcare they need. Developing affordable, high quality co-produced childcare, through offering discounted rent, could give residents the opportunity to develop skills and confidence, take up employment or training opportunities, increasing their household income.
You might be a community based organisation that has underutilised space and is interested in moving from informal activities, like stay and play sessions, into a more structured offer for local families. Delivering childcare can offer an opportunity to generate ongoing income for your organisation whilst meeting the needs of local families
Are you starting with an existing 'service already up and running?
Are you an existing childcare provider who wants to deepen your engagement with parents and families at your setting. Co-producing childcare enables you to connect with and benefit from the diverse skills and experience’s of the parents and community around your setting. Co-producing childcare in this way builds on the confidence of parents and supports them in their parenting outside of your nursery setting.
Are you starting as an 'instigator' group
In some cases there will be groups or organisations that are in place to lead this work. In other cases it may be led by an individual instigator with a vision who needs to develop activity across all three areas outlined above. Instigators could be individuals or community groups, funders, investors or local government who want to make change happen.