2 Year Old Entitlement

[Guest]

Deejay you mention parents who work at your local hospital as being eligible, I don’t understand why they are eligible for 2 year old funding unless of course their child has a disability, this is about those living below the poverty line, and therefore not likely to be working. It is not for people in work, we are talking about people on benefits.

 

and what if this person working in the hospital was a cleaner and on a low income? they could receive child tax credits and working tax credit both eligible benefits? This is offered to people in work, but who are not earning very much money.

 

I live and work in Harlow it is by all intents and purposes it is an area of deprivation. we have many family situations who attend our setting lone parents, children with SEN children who are living with domestic abuse - I understand why these statements are on there They are in a difficult homelife and either the parent or the child could benefit greatly from some respite and support to help them through difficult times, but most of the families are the average 2.4 children with parents who do go out to work but who are on a low income - cleaners, shop workers etc etc they would be receiving tax credits.

 

In a situation where two families home life is exactly the same parents work but dont earn very much but there are no other homelife situations then the White British child would not receive the extra support but the Ethnic minority family would.

 

The 15 other criteria could apply to anyone from any ethnic background, the 16th cant and that is why there is racial discrimination.

Edited November 28, 2009 by deejay

[Guest]

I too have struggled with this dilemma, but I have to agree with Karinia’s sentiments that the fear of an accusation of racial discrimination stifles many discussions while ‘blanket decisions’ for funding based on ethnicity plays into the hands of the far right.

I also agree with Jacqui that it would be great to have sufficient funding for all those in need – it is upsetting to see children you know who would benefit immensely from a funded place but are ineligible because they live in the wrong street!

[lynned55]

Karina's sentiments are so right and yes in an ideal world all children would be funded for all they needed. Unfortunately while decisions for funding include ethnicity as a criteria we perpetuate the myth that 'all foreigners step off the boat and get everything paid for ' It is a myth but one that is unfortunately believed by a lot of people and this sort of thing doesn’t help and yes it does play right into the hands of the far right and extremists.

 

I cannot understand why this criteria is acceptable, to anyone. If it was the other way around and child A was discriminated against (and it is discrimination) can you imagine the 16th criteria being “ Of white British parents’ everyone would be up in arms over it and quite rightly so. So why is "Of ethnic minority" acceptable

[catma]

Children from minority ethnic groups are at greater risk nationally of lower outcomes at 5 and this continues well into secondary 5 A-C GCSEs. This is often because parents from minority ethnic groups are reluctant to access services for young children. If this wasn't the case the very strong remit and need for the outreach element of CCs would be redundant.

 

In my LA it's Asian and Pakistani in particular, turkish/turkish cypriot, Traveller Gypsy Roma groups among several who are really underperforming. Anything that redresses the inherent imbalance in the education system for children from ethnic backgrounds is an absolute necessity in my book.

 

Just because in any one particular setting there are many children from a minority group does not mean that all minority children are doing well universally. look at your LAs or the national data set.

 

I don't see this as racism. It's pragmatic criteria to allocate scant resources based on the localised/national data that we as a sector produce.

 

Cx

[Lyanne]

I remember when funding for 3 year olds in preschool (as opposed to school nurserys) came in. When I started working in preschool, in my LEA, we got funding for 4 year olds, then it came in that they could have it a term earlier if they were from families with one of a range of criteria, including low income, SEN, English as a Second language.

 

If this is how it's being applied in Essex, that people qualify if they fit one fo the criteria, I don't see that it's a major issue - though frustrating to those who don't qualify. I think as a setting, one must encourage those eligible to apply (as it may benefit the setting as the LEA will have it on record how many eligible children attend), and try to use the funding to benefit all the children in the setting. If it means getting definite payments from LEA rather than potential payments from parents, that's good if nothing else!

 

I'm actually pretty impressed that the LEA have told you how people can meet the criteria - we're still waiting for info despite repeated requests. We have several children who fit Essex's criteria as I've understood it from the original post - but at the moment their parents are still paying for 1 session. Give us the funding for them, and they can have more!

[Guest]

Well I give up there is no point in arguing with these people (the LA) they obviously only listen to statistics and not people in the real world. I have basically been told that I should not be even showing this to parents if they do not meet the criteria and I should be using my discretion as to who finds out about it - it is like banging your head against a brick wall. The mum who I told to write and complain was right what is the point?

 

Anyway I have tried my hardest I can do no more I will carry on as before...

[catma]

Just some food for thought within the context of this discussion.

 

Fairness and Freedom - the final report of the equalities review 2007.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications...fairnessfreedom

 

"Just 77 per cent of the three and four year olds among ethnic minority children use early years provision, compared to nearly 87 per cent of White three and four year olds."

 

"In the early years, we find that:

● What families do for their under-fives in the home is very important to future learning and behavioural outcomes. In the early years the protective effect of a good Home Learning Environment is more influential on a child’s development than parents’ qualifications, income or ethnicity, and the effect persists even to age 10.

● Boys and children from some ethnic minority groups tend to experience poorer Home Learning Environments.

● The quality of pre-school education is also very important to future learning and behavioural outcomes, especially for disadvantaged or vulnerable children: a high-quality pre-school, whether attended part-time or full-time, can reduce the risk of future Special Educational Needs (SEN) and can even partially compensate for a poor Home Learning Environment."

 

 

Use of childcare among families from minority ethnic backgrounds Report 2005

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/r...lications/1280/

 

"Research shows that there are a number of challenges facing those who seek to improve the access of minority ethnic parents to their preferred forms of childcare and to the types of childcare that will best serve their children. The key

challenges identified are affordability; availability and location; awareness and information; cultural recognition, inclusion and understanding; and expectations of childcare."

 

"Minority ethnic children living in the UK are considerably more likely than their white counterparts to grow up in poverty. While 18 per cent of white children in England and Wales fell into the bottom fifth of the income distribution in 2002, the same was true of 26 per cent of Indian children, 34 per cent of Black Caribbean children, 43 per cent of Black non-Caribbean children and 61 per cent of Bangladeshi and Pakistani children (Kober (ed.) 2003). In view of this, it is not surprising that much research has identified cost as a major barrier to the use of childcare among

minority ethnic parents (Pettigrew 2003, Hall et al. 2004)."

 

I believe we have a duty to address and tackle inequalities which doesn't mean a one size fits all approach. "Outrage" within the white cultural majority about perceived "unfair treatment" merely creates a smoke screen for the real issue which is continued underachievement of children from ethnic minority groups and it is this "outrage" which I feel plays more into the hands of the more extreme elements of our society than children being supported to do as well as the rest in the future.

 

Cx

[Guest]

Just some food for thought within the context of this discussion.

 

Fairness and Freedom - the final report of the equalities review 2007.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications...fairnessfreedom

 

"Just 77 per cent of the three and four year olds among ethnic minority children use early years provision, compared to nearly 87 per cent of White three and four year olds."

 

"In the early years, we find that:

● What families do for their under-fives in the home is very important to future learning and behavioural outcomes. In the early years the protective effect of a good Home Learning Environment is more influential on a child’s development than parents’ qualifications, income or ethnicity, and the effect persists even to age 10.

● Boys and children from some ethnic minority groups tend to experience poorer Home Learning Environments.

● The quality of pre-school education is also very important to future learning and behavioural outcomes, especially for disadvantaged or vulnerable children: a high-quality pre-school, whether attended part-time or full-time, can reduce the risk of future Special Educational Needs (SEN) and can even partially compensate for a poor Home Learning Environment."

 

 

Use of childcare among families from minority ethnic backgrounds Report 2005

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/r...lications/1280/

 

"Research shows that there are a number of challenges facing those who seek to improve the access of minority ethnic parents to their preferred forms of childcare and to the types of childcare that will best serve their children. The key

challenges identified are affordability; availability and location; awareness and information; cultural recognition, inclusion and understanding; and expectations of childcare."

 

"Minority ethnic children living in the UK are considerably more likely than their white counterparts to grow up in poverty. While 18 per cent of white children in England and Wales fell into the bottom fifth of the income distribution in 2002, the same was true of 26 per cent of Indian children, 34 per cent of Black Caribbean children, 43 per cent of Black non-Caribbean children and 61 per cent of Bangladeshi and Pakistani children (Kober (ed.) 2003). In view of this, it is not surprising that much research has identified cost as a major barrier to the use of childcare among

minority ethnic parents (Pettigrew 2003, Hall et al. 2004)."

 

I believe we have a duty to address and tackle inequalities which doesn't mean a one size fits all approach. "Outrage" within the white cultural majority about perceived "unfair treatment" merely creates a smoke screen for the real issue which is continued underachievement of children from ethnic minority groups and it is this "outrage" which I feel plays more into the hands of the more extreme elements of our society than children being supported to do as well as the rest in the future.

 

Cx

 

This research is from many years ago 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007 - We are about to hit a new decade! and if that is what these statistics are based on then I beleive it is a little out of date.

 

If this is what it is based on it is time to do some more research...

Edited December 3, 2009 by deejay

[HappyMaz]

In terms of research I'd say that figures relating to 2007 are actually quite recent - those three year olds in that study have probably only just started primary school, after all!

 

Of course we'll have to wait and see whether this targeted funding will bring about the improved outcomes for children that it is designed to promote. For this reason the research will be ongoing because that's what Governments base their funding decisions on - and if new trends or patterns emerge I'm sure funding priorities will change.

 

Thanks to catma, mundia and JacquieL for shedding considerable light on the rationale that underpins the wider issue of two year old funding. It won't be coming to my group any time soon but at least I feel I understand more now than before.

 

Maz