Pupils should spend LONGER days in school to help parents struggling with high childcare costs, Children’s Commissioner says

• Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza suggests longer school hours
• Dame Rachel says schools are solution to provide childcare to struggling parents
• Parents of three and four-year-olds can claim up to 30 hours of free childcare
• But take-up is variable across UK and some councils struggle to find providers

The Children’s Commissioner has suggested children should stay in school for longer hours in order to cut crippling childcare costs for parents.

Dame Rachel de Souza has touted longer school hours as the solution to help struggling parents who go out to work.

She dubbed other planned shake ups of the childcare sector as ‘tinkering around the edges’. 

Her report, Vision for Childcare, stated schools are at ‘the heart of the community’ and are best placed to provide after-hours care for children, with extracurricular activities among other benefits.

Dame Rachel said: ‘The most straightforward approach to making childcare manageable and affordable is by providing an extended school day, so children can be cared for on school premises.

Children’ Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza has suggested schools open for longer to provide childcare services in order to reduce crippling costs for parents

‘It will mean doing much more than tinkering around the edges.’

Dame Rachel added that childminders deserve higher wages, in order to retain more workers.

Drawing on research from ‘The Big Ask’ – a mass survey of children and their parents last summer with over 557,000 responses – the Children’s Commissioner assessed the arrangements around childcare.

At present, parents of three and four-year-olds are eligible for between 15 and 30 hours of free childcare a week, for 38 weeks of the year.

But research noted that take-up was often low among families from ethnic backgrounds, while parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) faced difficulties in finding childminders.

Even those who take up the benefit are said to be struggling, with as many as 43 per cent of mothers considering leaving work due to unaffordable childcare, a poll by Mumsnet found.

The solution, the report argued, is to be found in schools.

The commissioner’s report stated: ‘The most straightforward approach to making childcare manageable and affordable is by providing an extended school day, so that children can be cared for on school premises’

A graph from the report Vision for Childcare shows the soaring cost of childcare for small children, which gradually reduce with age

Dame Rachel de Souza, 54, is the Children’s Commissioner for England – the highest child protection role in the land.

Born in Lincolnshire, she worked in education for decades before being appointed to her role in March last year. 

She served as deputy headteacher at Denbigh High School in Luton over 20 years ago, helping to transform it into one of the top schools in the country. 

She went on to be headteacher of Barnfield West Academy in Luton and Ormiston Victory Academy in Norwich.

Last summer, she launched ‘The Big Ask’ – the largest ever survey of children’s and their parents’ views in the UK, with over 557,000 responses.

Dame Rachel said: ‘One of the clear things that came out of this comprehensive research-led review was how important childcare was to families. 

‘They told me they wanted high-quality and affordable childcare which suited their needs.’

Dame Rachel has also worked with former Culture secretary Nadine Dorries on the Online Safety Bill to increase protections for children online and her office is currently reviewing pupil absence following the Covid pandemic.  

It stated: ‘When it comes to school age children the most straightforward approach to making childcare manageable and affordable is by providing an extended school day, so that children can be cared for on school premises.

‘This would address the biggest existing gap in childcare provision, with the majority of areas saying there is a lack of provision for after school care for children aged 5-14.

‘An extended school day not only works best for parents but can also open up opportunities for additional extra-curricular activities and clubs, including breakfast clubs, in the place that children are already familiar with.’

The prime Minister has stated that cutting childcare costs is a priority for her government, while new measures will be revealed by ministers this winter.

The report added: ‘Our research has shown that take-up of free hours around the country is hugely variable, and that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to be in private provision, and more likely to take up their place in a nursery class in school.

‘Local authorities around the country report huge variation in their ability to secure sufficient childcare.

‘Drawing on school resources to increase provision for two, three and four-year-olds in school would be a way to meet this challenge and provide greater consistency across the country.

‘One of the most significant challenges facing the sector is recruitment and retention of staff, with low pay and poor progression opportunities often cited as the cause.

‘Bringing early education into the wider school sector would present an opportunity to align workforce training, development, and support with that of wider school staff and teachers. 

‘For too long those educating the youngest children haven’t had the respect and opportunities they deserve, and this needs to change.’

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