Creches are in more demand than ever, but they must satisfy particular conditions. Mary Evans explains why they're special
Parents today often have no choice but to take their children with them when they shop, work out or attend an exhibition. This has led to a rise in the provision of creches at events from conferences to weddings and at amenities from superstores to race courses.
The dictionary definition of a creche as a day nursery for babies and very young children does not emphasise the key difference - a creche provides casual or temporary childcare.
Sometimes it is the provision that is temporary, as in the creche run by the Pre-School Learning Alliance at this month's Under 12s Exhibition sponsored by Nursery World. At other times the facility is permanent but the children only use it spasmodically for a limited time, for example the shoppers' creches run by Premier Creche Services at malls across the country.
The Government has proposed new standards for creches in its consultation paper on regulating daycare (see box below), which should eliminate inconsistencies.
Currently, according to Peter Cunningham, director of Premier Creche Services, some of its settings can care for children for up to three hours while in others, local social services departments set a limit of two hours.
Currently, temporary creches need not register, but anyone planning to set up a permanent creche should contact their local social services about registration requirements.
Controls on space and staffing do not yet apply to one-off events, short-term or occasional creches. But as with other childcare settings, the basic rules of the Children Act apply, requiring all staff to be vetted.
Insurance is, of course, essential for all providers, and anyone running a one-off creche will need to check with their insurer if their current policy covers such an event.
The temporary nature of the provision raises three problems a creche manager has to overcome:
- anticipating take-up rates and having enough staff to cover
- building a bond with hitherto unknown children
- establishing a security regime with each new set of parents.
Mr Cunningham says, 'Where we differ from a day nursery is that from one day to the next we don't know who our clients will be. We do have regulars, so the staff get to know them and in the 15 years we have been in existence we have learned there is a pattern in the way people use the facilities, so we staff accordingly.
'If it is the first time they have used us, we ask the parents to come back in 15 minutes to make sure their child is settling in. If the child is not very happy we can give them a pager and call them if the child gets upset.
'The children are tagged and the final door is alarmed so they cannot wander out. We have a computerised registration and if a mother leaves a child and does not say that someone else is picking the child up we will not let that child go. That can lead to some heated moments, but once everyone cools down the parents realise that we are putting safety first.'
Meg Bender, PLA Quality Assurance and Training Service Manager, always exceeds the Children Act staffing ratios and runs creches at conferences and exhibitions on 1:2 so the children can settle quickly.
'The children have often had a long journey to reach the venue and are usually very young so they need a lot of personal attention,' she says. 'We talk to conference organisers beforehand to make sure we get enough space. We like the creche to be screened off so nobody could reach over and pick up a child. We try to be sited near the toilets so it is not too much of a trek to take the children out to the toilet. We usually ask for parents to book in advance but people often turn up on the day and if we can take their children, we do. They sign children in when they arrive and sign out when they depart.'
Carol Hill and her team from the Wallingford-based Mobile Creche pack all they need into two box trailers to convert a room at a wedding or conference venue into a fully functioning nursery with cots and nappy changing facilities, a climbing frame, play house, table football, reading corner, and sand and water play features.
Carol says, 'When I am first approached I ask how many children are expected, to plan the numbers of staff we need and amount of equipment. We always ask for an empty room but invariably we arrive and find there is a table or sideboard left and we have become good at improvising.
'We seldom have an unhappy child. More often, they cry when they go rather than when they are left.'
The Mobile Creche caters for many private parties such as christenings and weddings where security is not a major factor as most of the parents and children are either related or know each other so Mrs Hill dispenses with registration forms.
Creches do face competition from other forms of childcare, so often offer something special. Clare Gibbons, manager of the creche at the Cannons Health and Fitness Club in Newbury, opens on Christmas Eve morning and runs two Christmas shopping weekends for parents making last-minute holiday preparations.
Rules and regulations
Some creches are in permanent premises, such as a shopping centre, while others are established on a temporary basis to care for children while their parents attend an event.
The Government's consultation paper on the regulation of daycare defines creches as facilities that provide occasional care for children aged under eight and are provided on particular premises on no more than five days a year.
Under Government proposals, creches in future would have to:
- be registered when they run for more than two hours a day, even where individual children attend for a shorter period.
- limit the numbers in a group of children to no more than 26, but a provision may include more than one group and organise the care for babies aged under two in groups of no more than 12;
- operate a key workers system;
- maintain minimum staffing ratios of 1:3 for children 0-2 years; 1:4 for children aged 2 years, and 1:8 for children aged 3-7 years;
- provide as a minimum the following space per child: under 2 years - 3.5m2; 2 years - 2.5m2; and 3-5 years - 2.0m2.