Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years explained

Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years
Abbreviation:PACEY
Formation:1977 (as National Childminding Association);[1] relaunched as PACEY, 18 March 2013[2]
Status:registered charity[3] and professional membership organisation
Headquarters:London
Location:Bromley, London Borough of Bromley
Region Served:England and Wales, Isle of Man and Channel Islands[4]
Membership:35,000[5]
Language:English; Welsh
Leader Title:Chief Executive
Leader Name:Helen Donohoe
Main Organ:The Childcare Professional (magazine, published every two months)[6]
Num Staff:40[7]
Budget:£3.9 million

Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) is a charity and membership organisation based in London and working in England and Wales. A standard-setting organisation, it promotes best practice and support childcare professionals to deliver high standards of care and learning.[8]

History

PACEY was founded, as the National Childminding Association (NCMA), in 1977 by a small group of registered childminders, local authority staff and parents.[1] Originally the Association covered the UK, but the Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA) http://www.childminding.org/ and the Northern Ireland Childminding Association (NICMA) http://www.nicma.org/cms/index.php now support childminding in Scotland and Northern Ireland.[1] NCMA changed its name to Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years in March 2013, to reflect the broadening of its membership to include nursery workers as well as childminders and nannies and the growing recognition of its members' professionalism.[5]

Organisation

PACEY's President, since March 2013, is childcare expert and author Penny Tassoni.[2] The Chair, since November 2020, is Dr Amy Page. The Chief Executive is Helen Donohoe, who succeeded Liz Bayram in January 2023.[9]

PACEY's head office is in Bromley, Kent. It also has an office in Cardiff, Wales.[10]

Registered childminders and nannies

Registered childminders care for one or more children under the age of eight for more than a total of two hours a day, usually in the childminder's home, for payment. They are usually self-employed and are inspected by Ofsted in England http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/[11] or the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) http://wales.gov.uk/cssiwsubsite/newcssiw/?lang=en[12] to ensure they are providing a safe and stimulating environment for these children.

Unlike registered childminders, nannies are employed by parents and work in the family home. They are not required to register with Ofsted in England or with CSSIW in Wales. However, to reassure parents that they have had an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check, first-aid and basic childcare training, nannies can join the voluntary Ofsted register or CSSIW's Voluntary Approval Scheme.[13]

Research

At its 2005 annual conference, the organisation's then-President, British childcare expert Dr Penelope Leach, outlined details of the findings of the longest and most detailed studies of UK childcare, which concluded that young children who are looked after by their mothers do significantly better in developmental tests than those cared for in nurseries, by childminders or relatives. It found babies and toddlers fared worst when they were given group nursery care. Those cared for by friends or grandparents or other relatives did a little better while those looked after by nannies or childminders were rated second only to those cared for by mothers. The study, by researchers led by Leach and colleagues Kathy Sylva and Alan Stein, began in 1998 and involved 1,200 children and their families from north London and Oxfordshire. Mothers were interviewed when their babies were three months old and again when they were 10, 18, 36 and 51 months.[14]

In March 2013 PACEY's report Childcare – not just a job, a vocation, based on research carried out in association with Nursery World magazine and NannyTax,[15] found that low pay and poor status are concerns across the childcare profession – among childminders, nursery workers and nannies. In spite of this, the study found that for every £1 childcare workers are paid, they generate between £7 and £9.50 worth of benefits to society.[16]

In September 2013 a survey by PACEY of more than 2,000 UK childcare workers, parents and teachers found that social skills and independence were rated more highly than key academic skills as indicators of young children's readiness to start school.[17]

Campaigns

In 2001 the Association campaigned for a reversal of new government regulations which allowed childminders to smack babies and toddlers and to smoke in the presence of children with parents' consent.[18] [19]

In April 2012 it launched a campaign, Individual Inspection Matters, calling on the Government to retain individual registration and inspection of childminders in England. The campaign was launched in response to concerns that the Government is planning to take childminding out of the current inspection and regulation system and that this could lead to deregulation or regulation with a "lighter touch".[20] [21] It expressed concern that stepping away from individual Ofsted inspection threatened childminders' professional status.[22]

In March 2013 Catherine Farrell, PACEY's then joint chief executive, criticised government plans to increase the number of children that childcare providers can look after in England and to introduce childminder agencies as being "likely to reduce quality for children".[23]

Communications

PACEY's magazine, The Childcare Professional, is published every two months.[6]

Members have access to helplines and support services.[24]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: History of PACEY . PACEY . 22 March 2013 . 27 March 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130327185315/http://www.pacey.org.uk/about/history_of_pacey.aspx . live .
  2. News: NCMA changes name to PACEY and now represents nursery staff as well as childminders . daynurseries.co.uk . 18 March 2013 . 23 March 2013 . Learner, Sue . . 26 March 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130326110053/http://www.daynurseries.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1559477/ncma-changes-name-and-now-represents-nursery-staff-nannies-as-well-as-childminders . live .
  3. PACEY is registered in England and Wales as a charity, no 295981. Web site: 295981 – Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years . . Find charities . 9 August 2013 . 17 December 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131217103919/http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/find-charities . live .
  4. PACEY also covers the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and British Armed Forces posted overseas within British Territorial Limits.Web site: Legal support . PACEY . 9 August 2013 . 27 August 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130827014359/http://www.pacey.org.uk/about/benefits_of_membership/legal_support.aspx . live .
  5. News: National Childminding Association rebrands as Pacey . Third Sector . 22 March 2013 . 23 March 2013 . Pudelek, Jenna . London . 2 December 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131202232939/http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/1175646/national-childminding-association-rebrands-pacey/ . live .
  6. Web site: The Childcare Professional . PACEY . 22 March 2013 . 24 March 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130324193914/http://www.pacey.org.uk/about/benefits_of_membership/the_childcare_professional.aspx . live .
  7. Web site: Annual report and financial statements 31 March 2023 . 25 November 2023 . 4 . 3 April 2024.
  8. Web site: About PACEY . PACEY . 22 March 2013 . 23 March 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130323083517/http://www.pacey.org.uk/about.aspx . live .
  9. Dunkley . India . 31 January 2023 . Liz Bayram to step down as CEO of PACEY . . 16 February 2023 . 16 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230216211810/https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/liz-bayram-to-step-down-as-ceo-of-pacey . live .
  10. Web site: PACEY in Wales . PACEY . 18 June 2017 . 19 April 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170419044853/https://www.pacey.org.uk/partnerships/pacey-in-wales/ . live .
  11. Web site: Being inspected as a childminder or childcare provider. Ofsted. 18 June 2017. 24 July 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170724072534/https://www.gov.uk/ofsted-inspection-childcare-provider. live.
  12. Web site: Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales. CSSIW. 3 May 2011. 15 May 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110515043731/http://wales.gov.uk/cssiwsubsite/newcssiw/?lang=en. dead.
  13. Web site: Voluntary Approval Scheme. CSSIW. 3 May 2011. 30 March 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120330110118/http://wales.gov.uk/cssiwsubsite/newcssiw/aboutus/providingsocialcare/cmreg/form/?lang=en. dead.
  14. News: Official: babies do best with mother. The Observer. 2 October 2006. 16 March 2011. London. Roberts, Yvonne. Yvonne Roberts. 20 September 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140920022825/http://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/oct/02/childrensservices.familyandrelationships. live.
  15. Web site: Childcare – not just a job, a vocation . PACEY . PACEY Local . 17 March 2013 . 22 March 2013 . Hinchmore, Jon . https://web.archive.org/web/20130325113913/http://local.pacey.org.uk/news/b/news/archive/2013/03/17/childcare-not-just-a-job-a-vocation.aspx . 25 March 2013 . dead .
  16. Web site: Low pay and poor status are shared concerns for childminders, nannies and nursery workers . PACEY . PACEY Local . 18 March 2013 . 22 March 2013 . Hinchmore, Jon . https://archive.today/20130423200057/http://local.pacey.org.uk/conversation/ask/in-politics/f/382/t/2524.aspx . 23 April 2013 . dead .
  17. News: Social skills 'key to good start at school' . . 28 September 2013 . 8 October 2013 . Hannah Richardson . 5 October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131005222507/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24302481 . live .
  18. News: New rules that say smacking is okay. TES. 11 May 2008. 6 May 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20150102063408/https://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/New-rules-that-say-smacking-is-okay-337392/. 2 January 2015. dead.
  19. News: Hodge replies to smoking question. Mercer, Alison. Nursery World. 8 March 2001. 6 May 2012. https://archive.today/20130505031708/http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/726981/Hodge-replies-smoking-question/. 5 May 2013. dead.
  20. News: Campaign to stop childminder deregulation. Gaunt, Catherine. Nursery World. 3 May 2012. 6 May 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120711235648/http://nurseryworld.co.uk/news/1130256/Campaign-stop-childminder-deregulation/. 11 July 2012. dead.
  21. News: Childminders warn against 'lighter touch' regulation. Moorhead, Joanna. The Guardian. 15 May 2012. 21 May 2012. 2 January 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150102064300/http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/may/15/childminders-warn-against-lighter-regulation. live.
  22. News: How to get ahead in ... childminding. Andalo, Debbie. The Guardian. 6 June 2012. 12 June 2012. 2 January 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150102064322/http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2012/jun/06/get-ahead-in-childminding?newsfeed=true. live.
  23. News: Nursery ratio plans criticised by government adviser . . 22 March 2013 . 22 March 2013 . Richardson, Hannah . 22 March 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130322014345/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21876719 . live .
  24. Web site: Advice . PACEY . 3 April 2024 .

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