NDNA chief executive Rosemary Murphy said the Department for Education and Skills had responded to the needs of the childcare sector on this issue, and that she hoped 'an umbrella group' of Quality Assurance (QA) schemes would emerge.
The DfES is currently sending out Investors in Children guidance and applications forms to QA schemes. Completed forms must be submitted by April.
A panel of independent ex-perts convened by the DfES will consider applications in May and the first group of QA schemes is expected to be endorsed in June. Those where weaknesses have been identified will have the opportunity to make necessary changes and then re-apply.
Mrs Murphy said, 'We have been revising our own quality assurance scheme and we are fairly confident that it meets the requirements of what a good scheme should look like. We are generally supportive of kitemarking because there needs to be a standard level for these schemes.'
However, she pointed out that some providers were not free to access the scheme of their choice because they were tied to QA arrangements operated by local authorities.
The proposal to kitemark QA schemes followed consultation last year on the issue of quality rating with early years partnerships, scheme providers, childcare providers, professional bodies, parents and children. With Ofsted set to take on responsibility for rating quality as part of its statutory inspections process, the star-rating element of Investors in Children has been dropped.
A DfES report on the consultation said, 'Providers can currently choose from over 50 QA schemes. A process of standardisation is required to ensure QA schemes are themselves of good quality.'
The report added, 'More than 30 national and local QA schemes have expressed an interest in modifying their materials and procedures to become Investors in Children-accredited. None of the existing 54 QA schemes have indicated an unwillingness to participate.'
More than 90 per cent of those surveyed supported each of the ten criteria for approving QA schemes put forward in the Investors in Children consultation paper. These specified that participating schemes should be based on research evidence, build on the national standards, and ensure that providers have access to adequate mentoring and support.