The Following Is a Summary of the 7 Case Studies Used to Meet Target 71. the Case Studies

The following is a summary of the 7 case studies used to meet Target 71. The case studies were reviewed to identify characteristics that were inherent to the provision’s success. All provisions had a unique selling point (USP), all had one or a combination of the characteristics at 2 and all are examples of flexible childcare.

Summary of rural case studies

Models

Example 1 (Gwynedd)

Sessional Playgroup care 9am – 12 noon for 2-4 year olds and based in nursery
USP – sessions are less expensive than the traditional half day sessions offered by full day care nurseries and appear to meet the needs of the local community

Example 2 (Gwynedd)

Newly registered Childminder (need identified through CSA)
USP – flexible part time childcare including after school care

Example 3 (Gwynedd)

Cylch Meithrin – wrap around care, lunch club and childcare for younger children
USP – looking to provide full day care for 3 and 4 years olds and afternoon sessions for 2 year olds and wrap around childcare

Example 4 (Conwy)

After School Childcare Club – long term history of rural sustainability issues
USP – newly introduced marketing strategy aimed at parents of nursery and reception aged children

Example 5 (Swansea)

Holiday Club Childcare – based in rural coastal region
USP – Commitment of setting to support working parents and establishing trust

Example 6 (Gwynedd)

Cylch Meithrin – Welsh medium Cylch in remote rural area
USP – fully supported by local school offering an additional Welsh medium childcare option to working parents

Example 7 (Denbighshire)

Full day care – identified need for full day care in rural community
USP – local employer recruited Welsh speaking staff, hasgood relationships with local schools and is providing ‘pick up, drop off’ service

Characteristics of the successful examples given above are:

Local knowledge
Responsive to demand/needs
Flexible re costs/transport provision
Good communication and partnership working
Targeting audiences for its services
Active, targeted promotion and marketing

Example 1

Meithrinfa Deryn Bach (Innovative childcare in rural area)

Meithrinfa Deryn Bach is a full day care nursery operating from a former school building in Bryncrug near Tywyn in Gwynedd. This area is deemed to be a rural area and had no childcare facility prior to the opening of Deryn Bach less than a year ago. The owner, Laura Ryan is local to the area and a mum herself who identified the need herself. Since opening, Laura has built a strong team of bilingual staff and has responded to the requests of parents to first set up drop in Parent & Toddler sessions which has evolved to lead to her setting up sessional care (Playgroup) sessions from 9am to 12 noon for children aged 2-4 years at the nursery. These sessions are less expensive than traditional half day sessions usually offered by full day care nurseries and appear to meet the needs of the local community.

Deryn Bach also offer an After School Club and provide transport from the school in neighbouring Tywyn.

Example 2

Rural Welsh Language provision in Gwynedd

The Gwynedd Childcare Sufficiency Assessment for 2014-2017 identified a need to increase childcare provision in rural areas of Dwyfor and Meirionnydd and to increase access to Welsh medium childminding provision. PACEY Cymru have been working with the local authority to support business development in these areas through access to online training and delivery of workshops and support in target areas to increase accessibility for those in rural areas to become registered childminders.

During November and December 2015 three new Welsh medium / bilingual childminders were registered in target rural areas, two were in or near Pwllheli, Dwyfor and the third in Penrhyndeudraeth, Merionydd.

Flexible care

XX childminder in rural Meirionydd, Gwynedd has been supported by PACEY Cymru through partnership with the local authority to become a registered childminder, which she achieved in November 2015.

Guidance and support during pre-registration workshops in December 2014, January 2015 and an individual advice surgery session in June 2015, aided consideration of providing a flexible service to meet the needs of local families. Since registration additional training and support has been sought through a direct new registration call and attendance at PACEY Cymru Risk Assessment training. The above mentioned training and support were delivered in the local area as it had been identified for targeted childcare development support with a view to increasing provision within the area.

This newly registered childminder is currently providing flexible part-time childcare to suit the needs of families which includes after school care Monday – Thursday, with further plans in place to increase intake in September 2016.

March 2016 Follow-up

Follow-up contact was made with the childminder 6 months on to see how their childminding business is progressing.

Childminder XX confirmed that they have accessed and benefitted from a range of PACEY member resources, for example they are currently working on their first Quality of Care report having accessed the PACEY factsheet and template for this. Continuing with their professional development; they have accessed local courses including Makaton and child protection training and are booked to attend further training locally. Interested in ongoing professional development, over the next 12 months they will be looking to explore the level 3 in Children’s Care Learning and Development.

In terms of childcare offered, the main focus since registration has been after-school and holiday care, which meant for a busy and active summer participating in local outdoor play opportunities. They continue to offer a flexible and bilingual service to meet the needs of working families locally.

October 2016

Example 3

A small rural cylch meithrin in Gwynedd needed support as the Cylch had been closed for several months because the staff had left and there was no committee only the registered person. There was a real danger that the Cylch would close permanently due to parents looking for alternative childcare and losing three year old funding.

An open meeting was held for the community attended by the support officer and regional manager and new committee members came forward. The Mudiad support officer worked to support the committee to find new staff and then helped the registered person to fill in the appropriate CSSIW forms. The support officer also worked closely with the staff of the local school who were very keen to keep the Cylch open.

A new committee was set up and staff have recently been appointed. The support officer helped with all the paper work and also liaised with the local authority. The Cylch will reopen in September with new, experienced, enthusiastic staff. The school where the Cylch is situated have been very supportive and the community are very pleased that they have been able to keep the Cylch in the village. This has entailed hours of work for the support officer but has been worthwhile.

A Cylch Meithrin on Ynys Môn had to change their service drastically during the past academic year because the school had changed the admittance age which resulted in the Cylch losing all the rising four year olds. The committee and registered person worked closely with Mudiad staff to look into all available options.

Eventually it was decided that the Cylch would work closely with the school to offer wrap around care and a lunch club as well as childcare for younger children. Cylch staff pick the children up after the morning session in the school and keep them for the afternoon and vice versa with children who attend the school nursery in the afternoon.

During the autumn term 2015 only one Cylch was needed but by Easter 2016 another session was necessary so there are now two groups meeting simultaneously in order to accommodate all the different needs of the parents and children. This has provided value for money and accessible childcare for the parents in the area.

Cylch Llanfaircaereinion

The support Officer has worked closely with the committee and staff members to increase the hours and extend the service that the cylch is able to offer. Presently, the setting is open every morning from 9.00am till 11.30am. Since Easter they have extended their service to welcome two year olds for two mornings per week. Finding childcare is difficult in the area with no other Welsh Medium childcare available.

With the change in the child admission age to school, the setting has been exploring different options. They found that wraparound care would be of value to parents by increasing the number of hours the children would be allowed to stay within the setting. The setting is now looking to offer all day care for children by concentrating on three and four years old in the morning and welcoming more two year olds for the afternoon. The setting will be able to accommodate 19 children in their care at one time.

By supporting the cylch with CSSIW regulations and ensuring that they have a sound business plan, the cylch is now looking forward to further extending their hours to offer full day care.

Example 4

Clwb Gofal Betws is a long established after school childcare club providing care for up to 16 children 5 nights a week during school term time, in a rural part of Conwy County. The club has been running since September 2000 and is used by the families of children attending Ysgol Betws yn Rhos.

During the 16 years that the club has been opened it has until recently struggled with sustainability issues.

The club has been supported during this time to apply for different streams of funding, as part of this support Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Clubs staff (Childcare Business Development Officer and Support Worker) identified the needs of the club, researched the appropriate funding streams and assisted with the applications.

The club was assisted to apply for Sustainability funding to assist with staff costs, The Foresters Fund for Children assisted with storage to accommodate the additional new and engaging resources from an Awards for All grant, to attract more service users

Despite all of this the club still struggled with sustainability, at one point only opening for 4 evenings a week and even having special permission to have only one staff member on evenings where there were only 3 – 4 children in attendance, there were school staff present on site.

This changed when the Registered Person, who is also the Person in Charge, with support from the Childcare Business Development Officer, changed the marketing strategy for the club. The marketing strategy has been primarily aimed at the long term sustainability of the club. The club actively markets towards the parents of nursery and reception aged children. By engaging the parents early on in the child’s school years means the club has children for the 6 – 7 years the child remains in that school.

This strategy has paid off and the club now has bookings for September 2017.

Example 5

Rural Case Study - Llanrhidian Holiday Club, Swansea

Llanrhidian Holiday Club is based in the heart of the Gower Peninsula, a rural area approximately 30 minutes from the City Centre. The club is based in a small local primary school, Llanrhidian Primary School which has just over 150 children attending. The nearest alternative childcare is Gower Day Nursery based 5 miles away from the school, closer to the city centre.

Beverly Burgess, who worked at Llanrhidian Primary School and previously worked in it’s after school club, opened Llanrhidian Holiday Club in 2010 following requests from parents for holiday care. With support from Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Clubs, she approached the Headteacher to request renting the school during the holidays in order to offer holiday care. Once approved, Beverly, who was fully qualified, began to conduct market research and started her application for registration to Care and Social Services Inspectorate for Wales (CSSIW). Whilst her application to CSSIW was ongoing Beverly applied for funding to City and County of Swansea Children & Young Peoples Fund, which she was successful with. Whilst awaiting CSSIW registration Beverly offered holiday provision to children aged 8 and over (following pre April 2016 regulations) 8.30-5.30pm. Though quiet with only a handful of 4-6 children attending each day due to younger siblings being unable to attend, Bev persevered and achieved CSSIW registration for 16 children in July 2011 in time for the Summer Holidays 2011.

Summer 2011 was still quiet and not reaching maximum numbers but with further financial support from the Children & Young People Fund, Beverly was able to continue offering holiday care for 4 weeks of the Summer holidays and the half terms. Attendance numbers slowly increased, but Beverly recognised that Mondays and Friday were noticeably quieter. Having to consider long term sustainability Bev consulted parents on the demand for those 2 days. As a result of little interest for Monday and Fridays Beverly decided to only offer holiday provision on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until demand increased. It was important that fees were not increased too high but following registration the club was able to increase their fees slightly.

In Summer 2012, it was discussed what could be done to improve attendance numbers as numbers were reaching 9-10 a day but not to full capacity. Social media was discussed as a marketing tool and Beverly set up a Facebook page in the August, sharing photographs (with parent’s permission) and updates on what the children had been up to, opening dates and activities planned. It was also ensured that Llanrhidian Holiday Club featured on the Family Information Service website and Holiday Club List for any parents looking for childcare. As a result a family from Neath Port Talbot looking for childcare saw Llanrhidian Holiday Club’s Facebook page and booked their child in.

For the last 3 years Llanrhidian holiday club has often run to full capacity and as a result Beverly has had to increase her number of CSSIW registered places to 24 and regularly fills each space. Demand still has not increased enough for the Monday and Friday but parents are consulted each year on their need for these days. Fees currently stand at £25.00 per day. The club runs during the Christmas Holidays on days either side of Christmas bank holidays (even running the morning of Christmas Eve one year) and as a result had children attending from across Swansea due to the lack of provision at this time of year.

Beverly and a member of staff at the club have also completed an Apprenticeship in Level 2 Playwork with Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Clubs.

The success of Llanrhidian holiday Club is likely to be based on several things. Firstly, perseverance and a commitment to support working parents even when attendance numbers were low. By running each holiday regardless of numbers parents have come to trust and rely on the provision. Once parents recognised it was there to stay numbers began to increase.

The club has also been proactive in their marketing; creating and regularly updating their Facebook account and producing and updating promotional fliers.

Positive relationships with parents and good communication has also supported the sustainability of the setting. Beverly regularly texts and emails parents throughout the day to reassure them that the children are settled and happy, which parents respond well to. Beverly also shares photographs with parents.

Annual support from Swansea’s Children & Young People Fund enabled the club to continue when the club was less than sustainable.

Lastly, the club has a very home from home atmosphere, where children are cared for and respected. The club is committed to promoting children’s rights and has recently signed up to the Healthy Snack Award. Beverly offers lovely indoor activities and promotes outdoor play at every opportunity. The club has lovely outdoor grounds with a poly-tunnel, green field, nature area, mud kitchens, sand pits, water trays and a row of wellies ready for outdoor play regardless of weather. This is all reflected in the photographs that Beverly uses to promote the club.

Example 6

A rural community in south Gwynedd needed support to establish a new Cylch Meithrin. A Cylch had existed in the local school some years before but had closed due to staff problems. The Local Authority agreed with the Mudiad that there was a need for a Welsh medium Cylch in this very remote rural area and we agreed to work together to re-establish the Cylch.