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New survey reveals high positive rates in early years staff despite low prevalence of virus in young children

Leading early years organisation the Early Years Alliance has called on the government to take urgent action to ensure the safety of those working in nurseries, pre-school and childminding settings in England during national lockdown as a shocking new sector survey finds that:

• Nearly 1 in 10 (9%) nursery and pre-school staff and one in 12 (8%) childminders have tested positive for Covid-19 since 1 December 2020.
• Around half of early years practitioners (48% of nursery and pre-school staff and 54% of childminders) say they don’t feel safe in their current early years working environment.
• Nearly two-thirds (63%) of nurseries and pre-schools say that there is a moderate to high risk that their whole setting may need to temporarily close in coming weeks due to staff shortages brought about by Covid-19.

The online survey, which was conducted jointly by the Alliance and independent sector analysts Ceeda between Friday 15 January and Tuesday 19 January, received 3,555 responses from those working in the early years and childcare sector.

Ceeda analysis of the survey findings estimates that around 31,000 staff working in nurseries and pre-schools and almost 3,000 childminders have tested positive for Covid-19 since 1 December 2020. In comparison, the survey suggests that, on average, less than one child per early years setting has tested positive during the same time period. 

The survey also found that:

• Around 9 in 10 early years practitioners (94% of nursery and pre-school staff and 87% of childminders) believe that the early years workforce should be prioritised in the second phase of the Covid-19 vaccination programme. 

The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation is currently considering whether to include occupations with a higher risk of exposure to the virus in the next phase of Covid vaccinations.

However, while education secretary Gavin Williamson has publicly stated that he will fight ‘tooth and nail’ to ensure that school staff and school support staff get priority access to vaccinations, he has yet to make the same commitment on behalf of the early years sector, despite the fact that early years is the only part of the education sector that the government has asked to remain open to all children and families.

The survey additionally found that 65% of both nursery and pre-school staff and childminders would prefer to be included in the Department for Education’s mass lateral flow testing programme, which has been made available to maintained nurseries, schools and colleges and involves testing kits being sent directly to education settings.

As it stands, private and voluntary nurseries, pre-schools and childminders are required to travel to community testing centres to access lateral flow testing – with local authorities ‘encouraged’ to give them ‘priority’ access – despite the fact that many of these centres are only open during working hours.

FINANCIAL IMPACT OF COVID-19

Respondents to the survey also raised serious concerns about the financial impact of Covid-19 on their long-term sustainability. It found that:

• Early years occupancy levels are currently 58% in nursery and pre-schools compared to 86% in January 2020, and 54% in childminding settings compared to 92% in January 2020.
• 51% of nurseries and pre-schools and 35% of childminders expect to be operating at a loss at the end of the spring term based on current levels of government support. 

During the autumn term, the Department for Education funded the early years sector based on pre-Covid levels of child attendance. However, during the spring term, the government has so far refused to do so, instead basing funding on the number of children currently registered at early years settings. This is despite the fact that many providers have seen a huge fall in new registrations over recent months as a result of the government’s ‘Stay at Home’ public health messaging.

Commenting, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said:

“These shocking findings should, without a doubt, be cause for serious concern. While we know that early years settings are low-risk environments for children, it seems that no one has been asking whether or not the same is true for those working in the sector.

“With Covid rates among early years practitioners so high, it is no wonder that so many in the sector don’t currently feel safe going into work every day. We know that nurseries, pre-schools and childminders have worked incredibly hard to ensure that they offer a safe environment for those children still accessing care and education – but someone needs to be doing the same for them, and so far, the government has failed to do so.

“It is clear from these findings that the government must, as a matter of absolute urgency, roll out regular lateral flow testing directly to all early years providers, and ensure that the early years workforce is given priority access to vaccinations in Phase 2 of the roll-out. Anything less would be reckless and irresponsible – it is simply not acceptable to ask the sector to work during the most worrying period of the pandemic to date, and not provide the practical support they need to be able to do so safely.

“Equally vital is the need for government to provide greater financial support to ensure that early years providers are able to remain viable during this difficult period. Providing funding at pre-pandemic levels is a critical part of this – if the government was willing to do this during the autumn term, then there is absolutely no justification for not continuing this support now when the take-up of childcare places is even lower.

“Support for providers facing a substantial loss of private income is just as important and we urge the government to make sure that these settings are not forgotten when looking at the urgent need for financial sector support.

“Early years providers are the only part of the education sector that the government has asked to remain open to all families. It is surely not too much to ask for the protection - both practical and financial - needed to ensure that we can continue to do so?

“For weeks now, the government has been talking about how important the early years sector is, and what a valuable role providers play in supporting both children and parents. There is no excuse, then, for the government to drag its feet in taking the action needed to ensure that all providers are able to operate safely and sustainably, both now and in the future.”

PROVIDER COMMENTS

Safety concerns

Lisa Hovelmeier of Parkfield Montessori Pre-school in Christchurch, Dorset, said: 

"I feel the government has completely disregarded the effect of this pandemic on the early years. We have been instructed to stay open to essentially provide childcare but have been given no protection to carry out this service with an age group that has no idea of social distancing.  

“We have had children in the setting away because they have either contracted Covid themselves or because their parents have tested positive. This directly puts us at risk. They say the children are not affected by this but what about us as the teachers? We are susceptible, and so are our families that we go home to each day. Testing and vaccination would go a long way in helping this. 

"Financially we are under strain: our numbers are down by a third on last year. Gavin Williamson has stated that the early years re the most formative years for children regarding their education, building the foundation on which their school careers will continue. Recognition and support of this would be good." 

Dr Amelia Massoura of Stepping Stones Pre-School in Sittingbourne, Kent, said: 

"As a setting, we are seeing very low numbers of children attending as parents are understandably concerned about extremely high levels of transmission and are keeping their children at home.  This makes sense to us as Government guidance says to stay at home in a national lockdown situation: the DfE are sending directly conflicting messages to parents. 

“Out of six members of staff, four have contracted Covic-19. Fortunately, all have recovered well. We feel that there is a lack of evidence to suggest that children do not spread the virus and that practitioners are being put in a very vulnerable situation.  It is also very disheartening to be treated, again, as the poor relations in education."   

Amanda Webb of Bewbush Community Nursery CIC in Crawley, said:  

 “It’s a very sad situation that we find ourselves in. We are between a rock and a hard place. We are open for all but without any acknowledgement that we are putting ourselves, staff teams and own families at risk. or any consideration for testing or priority for vaccination.

“The data does indeed show that the under-fives are not getting the virus as often as other age groups; however, we feel that this is because parents are not getting their children tested. We are receiving more and more notifications of parents testing positive and therefore keeping their children at home with them and if they are showing signs of being unwell, not getting them tested but assuming they have the virus.  

“We just want to be valued and kept safe.” 

Vanessa Linehan of Sandbrook Community Playgroup in London, said:  

“We are a small community setting in Hackney which has approximately 35 children on roll at a time.  A third of our children are from low-income households. We are happy to stay open to support our families but we want our staff to have testing and vaccinations as a priority.

“I have two members of staff off at the moment: one getting over Covid and one who required a test. It's an impossible situation."    

Financial concerns

Donna May-Weeks of Poppies Day Care in Tiverton said:    

"Approximately half of the families at my setting have chosen to keep their children at home during this lockdown. This has resulted in a huge financial loss in the region of £10,000 for the seven weeks of lockdown so far. 

“The health and well-being of my team and the children is my priority - however, this huge loss will have a massive impact on our sustainability. It is my fear that many settings will close as a direct consequence of the complete lack of financial support given to settings."   

Jessica Fitton of St Thomas Preschool in Lancaster said:      

"We have six children who have not returned this term due to concerns around Covid. Only two of these was funded, so we are losing parents fees for the other four children. We are not in a position to furlough any staff as we are already a small setting and still need all our staff.  The loss of four sets of fees for half a term is significant for us as a small setting with only 21 children on roll."       

Lorraine Carroll of Kiddywinks Ltd in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, said: 

“I’ve never felt so undervalued in all my 20 years as an early years practitioner. Before the pandemic, nurseries were struggling but even more so now – there is no respect or recognition shown to us from the government. 

 “We desperately need better financial support: the hourly funding rate paid to us is insulting and has been for years. For many of us to survive, we had to take out bounce back loans last year, but we can’t keep doing this. The country will lose lots of excellent nurseries and practitioners if the government doesn’t help." 

Kay Howden of Peter Pan Pre School in Middlewich said:  

“We are currently assessing our ability to remain open. We have lost vital parental funding due to parents keeping children at home during the new lockdown, and now parents are starting to have concerns that early years isn’t safe if schools aren’t safe.

“We simply will be unable to remain viable without vital financial support.” 

SURVEY RESULTS

Data on positive test results is derived from survey responses from 2,675 nurseries and pre-schools and 673 childminders.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “I feel safe working in my current early years environment”.

* E.g. homeworking or off-site

Based on your recent experience and local trends in infection rates, how high is the risk that the whole setting may need to temporarily close in coming weeks due to staff shortages brought about by COVID-19? (Not asked for childminders)

(63% rated their risks as between 3 and 5)

The government has confirmed that private and voluntary providers will be given priority access to asymptomatic tests at community testing centres, while maintained settings and primary schools will be given home testing kits (for asymptomatic testing) to be taken at home. Given a choice, which of these options would you prefer for your setting:

Some organisations have called for the government to prioritise giving those working in the early years access to Covid -19 vaccinations in Phase 2 of the national vaccination rollout (after the most vulnerable have been vaccinated in Phase 1). Do you support or oppose this call?

What is the occupancy level in your setting this week? /

BEFORE the pandemic, what was your typical occupancy level at this time of year?

If your setting remains open to all families, what do you think your position will be at the end of the spring term: (by 'children on roll' we mean children with a parental declaration in place)