Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, has announced that following the next general election, a Tory government would introduce 30 hours of free childcare not just for three- and four-year-olds, but for every single child over the age of nine months. While the change would depend on the Conservative government being re-elected and wouldn’t come into effect until 2025, the announcement sparks a greater focus on the importance of the baby room in nurseries around England. Even with a Labour government, we’re likely to see childcare under the spotlight with hopes of an extension of what families are currently entitled to. This may well extend into the baby room.
For far too long, baby rooms have been treated as something ‘extra’ in nurseries. When we look at the early years professional learning landscape, we see a shocking gap around what is available specifically for baby room professionals and leaders. But with the potential for state money to enter into the baby room in England, something has got to change. This shift becomes a platform from which we can shout about the need to extend professional learning that targets practice the baby room. It includes initial training, which at the moment tends to just glance over what happens in the baby room, and continuous professional development for when professionals are out in the field.
Even if nothing else comes from this announcement, let’s use the attention as a chance to extend what’s available in terms of professional learning for baby room professionals and leaders.