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Lack of Access to Wraparound Care Causing Stress for Working Parents
Lack of access to wraparound care is causing huge stress for many working parents, according to a new survey.
The survey by Koru Kids of 2,000 parents in the UK, found 60% of parents say problems accessing wraparound care mean that they always feel tired, 36% feel that they are constantly behind on their work and 28% feel that others are more likely to get promoted as a result of them being more productive, with mums being more affected than dads.
Some 27% of parents say that wrap-around care does not fit around their current work pattern, rising to 31% for shift workers. When it comes to using a childminder, over a third of parents (34%) have considered using a childminder but have no provision in their local area to be able to do so. Moreover, 39% of parents of children with SEN needs do not feel that there is suitable after-school care provided by their child’s school.
However, the good news is more and more schools are offering wraparound care support children and their families in turn. Elevate Enrichment and Learning offer wraparound to schools and are on a mission to work with more and more schools over the next 12-18 months. if you are reading this and require wraparound care for your school or child, please get in touch with us to discuss how we could support.
BOOST FOR CHILDREN WITH SEND ACCESSING SPORT
New data released by the Youth Sport Trust has revealed PE and school sport experiences have rapidly improved for disabled children through the Inclusion 2024 programme.
Young people have been taking part in more inclusive and accessible PE lessons, school swimming, para sports as part of fun festivals, and learning key life and leadership skills.
The programme has brought about change by building support systems, working with a range a stakeholders and empowering an expert network of schools which have a wealth of insights and experiences in making PE and sport inclusive to help other schools around the country.
For young disabled people, the Chief Medical Officers’ recommendation is for a minimum of 20 minutes of physical activity every day. Over the last two years, the programme has helped to increase the number of disabled children achieving 20 minutes of high-quality PE and sport a day in schools and ensuring that those active minutes are tailored to them.
To date Inclusion 2024 has seen:
- Over a third (38.5%) of schools reported an increase in the proportion of children with SEND achieving 60 active minutes (more than the recommend 20 minutes a day for young people with a disability by the Chief Medical Officer) since having contact with Inclusion 2024. Two-thirds (67%) are achieving 30 minutes of activity a day
- 1,417 young people (38% with SEND) trained on a youth leadership pathway giving them skills to lead inclusive sport and activity sessions
- 14,616 young people (82% with SEND) given the opportunity to try para sports like basketball and curling as well as experience a Paralympic or Commonwealth Games inspired festival
- 6,411 young people with SEND started on their learn to swim journey and equipped them with key water safety advice. 49,816 young people in total have received lifesaving skills.
- 28,205 employees in the school workforce supported with continuing professional development to ensure sport and Physical Education is inclusive for every child (since 2022). 5,821 schools have received inclusive PE training.
AI: How engaging with schools is key to the future talent pipeline
This article first appeared in the November edition of CIO Business World.
The letters on all our minds are of course AI and what it means for our businesses and our technology teams. What skills will be needed in the future, and how do we prepare our businesses for that future?
While AI might be busy revolutionising how we work, how we interact, and how we run our lives, there is one critical thing it’s not going to change unless we act quickly. Right now, we are experiencing a crisis around skills gaps in digital, tech and tech adjacent roles. All research companies, recruiters, and management consultants say that the technology skills gap is only going to widen. Simply, more people need better digital skills and the ability to work confidently with AI as it augments and enhances their roles.
There’s also a compelling need for technology and data teams to be far more diverse than they currently are. The most productive and performant businesses need to have teams that match the demographic of their customers and citizens - not just to be competitive, but also to avoid unintended negative consequences in the AI driven services being created. Despite more than 20 years of targeted interventions by progressive businesses to recruit inclusively, to create supportive environments, encourage early careers, continuous learning and ‘squiggly’ careers, diversity levels haven’t really changed.
Starting young
Did you know that children can make career level type decisions as young as five years old? Also, between leaving primary and secondary school children’s views on which careers are ‘for them’ continue to narrow as they are influenced by their families, communities, teachers, and peers. They then narrow again when they pick GCSEs, usually to try and match a very small number of career options.
Partnering with organisations such as Elevate Enrichment and Learning can support schools with this and we are in the process of developing a new Tech focused programme to role out to schools, More details will be announced in due course.