by: Chey - 20-06-09 23:06
Hello everyone,
does anyone know of, or actually operate a co-operative Early Years Setting, private, voluntary or independent, or LEA?
Would anyone like to work in an Early Years Setting operated in this way?
What pros and cons can you see?
What are your thoughts?
by: Chey
Dear Nursery World,
no one has posted a response to this forum, so I can only guess that such a thing as a co-operative does not exist within the Early Years sector. Please could you investigate this and do a piece on the possibilities? I can not believe I am the first to raise the possibility of a venture of this kind or something near to it.Thought maybe there might be a 'Forest School' or eco setting which may operate in this way at least to some level.
Kind regards Chey
by: Annette
Hi Chey,
We have covered this issue over the years (you should get various news stories and features if you search 'co-operative' on the Archive). There are quite a few early years settings operating as co-operatives in the UK, including a chain, Imagine Co-operative Childcare, which runs six nurseries.
Co-operative UK has a really informative site outlining what co-operative childcare is. The site also includes case studies on various settings around the country: Co-operative Childcare.
Thanks for raising the issue, it's certainly something that we can return to in the magazine.
Annette