The blog below, written by a private nursery owner, appeared on Upstart’s Twitterfeed on 14-2-21. It sums up scores of complaints we’ve heard over recent months from nursery staff and child-minders.
Scotland has a ‘mixed economy’ in early learning and childcare and should treat all elements of it equally, but support for the private sector during COVID has been practically non-existent.
As our anonymous author makes clear, this lack of attention is an indication of the lack of esteem in which the early learning and care (ELC) workforce is held. Scotland has to stop seeing ELC as ‘the bottom of the pile’, start to recognise that it’s the foundation uppoon which children’s lifelong learning is based … and treat all providers and practitioners accordingly.
Sue Palmer, Chair of Upstart Scotland
EARLY YEARS MATTER. STOP TAKING US FOR GRANTED!
I’ve been having a moment contemplating… I think of myself as a reasonable person but I’m at a loss to understand this!
I am the owner of three nursery settings. From the beginning of lockdown, I’ve tried really hard not to feel like a victim and keep going. In March, the Government closed us … but also said we needed to stay open so that critical and frontline workers could carry on! We – like the troopers we are – did so! Ran the settings at massive losses but felt we were doing our bit. In return, we got no grants (the first ones based on rateable value), the insurers
All our fingers have blisters from the amount of antiviral cleaners and bleach being used! We are the only business sector that remains open without any insurance cover and when we close, due to positive cases in children or staff, we have no lockdown support. But perhaps most significantly, we work in a sector where social distancing is impossible and our job cannot be done by working remotely! Still we carry on day in day out!
So well said!! I am an owner of several settings and out of school care. This week we have had to close one nursery and 2 rooms in another one because of positive cases. We risk our staff health to stay open for key workers, where is our vaccine. I have had enough of the way we have been treated for years, well before Covid, yet we carry on because we have a passion for children’s early development and well being. I don’t know how long I can continue and keep smiling, we need support and most of all respect and recognition from Scottish Government and Local authorities, to be treated fairly. They know we are crucial to families who work and study, employment and we are needed to get the economy back on its feet. Maree Todd, Nicola Sturgeon , John Swinney, Kate Forbes, you know of our issues PLEASE take action, before it’s too late !!
I agree with every word. I work in a Nursery and feel a bit let down too. We are all Educated and qualified NOT Babysitters. We should have been looked after better x
Apologies to everyone for the weird layout of this blog. It was laid out properly and looks fine on the ‘preview’. But there seems to be some sort of glitch in the hosting program (WordPress) and I can’t find a way to sort it out.
Hope the meaning is coming over clearly in spite of the glitch.