After a tumultuous couple of years, we all entered 2022 hoping for a much calmer year than the one we got! But there are positives to be celebrated too, and in this blog we reflect on the key achievements of 2022 and how you as PACEY members continue to inspire us every day with your dedication to the children and families you support.
Emergency planning
We started the year under coronavirus restrictions with cases remaining sky-high. With the help of PACEY members, we successfully lobbied Governments in England and Wales to change the rule that prevented childminders from opening if somebody in their house had tested positive or had symptoms of COVID. This provided relief against the frequent temporary closures lots of you had to endure, before a shift to ‘Living with COVID-19’ was finally announced in Spring.
That was not the end of illness and infection warnings though, with the emergence of Monkeypox in autumn and in recent weeks, scarlet fever and Strep A. Emergency planning has been a key theme of the past couple of years, so all of you have robust policies and procedures in place to confidently deal with these unexpected challenges. The Welsh Government published new Emergency planning and response guidance in November and the Department for Education’s emergency planning guidance for settings in England was updated in October too. This also covered unprecedented weather conditions, with record high temperatures over the summer, and snow, ice and freezing conditions over the past couple of weeks! We applaud you all for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of your staff and children during these difficult conditions.
More for PACEY members
PACEY remains focussed on maintaining and expanding our member benefits, providing the best value for money for you as members. This year we expanded our PACEY membership to include our new and improved insurance and legal cover for childminders and nannies, with additional aspects that many of you asked us for, such as loss of revenue cover, debt recovery support and new 24/7 legal and counselling helplines.
Our team of PACEY Advisors has been on hand to answer a range of queries , benefitting over 500 PACEY members this year. They have supported members through inspections, working with others, building relationships with parents, and many other aspects of their business. Our PACEY Cymru team continues to answer messages, calls and emails from practitioners in Wales every day to support you in your roles.
“I do believe that my conversation with you helped immensely with my confidence and anxiety leading up to inspection… I never realised how much PACEY was there for us for advice. Thank you for our chat”
This year we launched our brand-new Volunteer Insight Panel. The PACEY VIP has contributed to articles in Childcare Professional magazine and other media, reviewed and informed new Government guidance and provided us with the vital insight that helps us to support our members. If you are interested in joining our VIP in 2023, find more information on the role in MyPACEY.
Our PACEY Live calendar
Thank you to everyone who has joined a PACEY Live this year! We have hosted so many fantastic guests and covered a huge range of topics: from Q&A sessions with Ofsted and Care Inspectorate Wales, musical activities with Boogie Mites, a stories and poetry Masterclass with the legendary Michael Rosen and many more! Take a look back at our highlights in our 2022 roundup video.
“I always find something new to learn at these webinars. Thank you!”
If you have some downtime over the festive break, feel free to watch back any of our PACEY Lives in MyPACEY. Our exciting schedule for 2023 will be released soon, so we look forward to seeing lots of you in the New Year!
A deep dive into mental health
Our PACEY members are at the heart of everything we do, and we strive to support you in every aspect of your practice. Over the summer we conducted research to better understand the mental health and wellbeing of our members and the families you support, resulting in a brand new Mental Health and Wellbeing Spotlight which we update with the latest resources, advice and guidance as well as financial support to help you cope with the cost of living crisis.
“This is so important, as individuals who are struggling don’t always acknowledge or realise they need help but PACEY provide good support for mental health and wellbeing.”
PACEY’s 2022 policy activity
Stability in Government has been a challenge for us, with the Government in England appointing five Education Secretaries over the past year! But our teams in England and Wales continue to work closely with Government departments and other stakeholders to call for action to address the ongoing workforce decline (which has accelerated significantly this year and remains a major concern for us) and to champion early education and childcare.
Here are just a few examples of the work that our teams in England and Wales have achieved during 2022:
- Presented evidence to the Department for Work and Pensions for its inquiry into Universal Credit and childcare costs in England
- Successfully lobbied the Department for Education in England to include childminders in its early years recovery package and worked with them to develop the programme of training to ensure it was inclusive of all provider types
- Published a new report on worldwide systems of early education and childcare with the Fawcett Society
- Launched a new digital campaign #ChangedALife to work with local authorities in England and Wales to support recruitment in the early years
- Re-launched our popular #NotABabysitter campaign with digital downloads and resources expanded to cover all types of early years and childcare provider in England and Wales
- Worked with the Mayor of London to support health visitors, Job Centre Plus (JCP) staff and social workers in London to better understand and promote childcare offers and entitlements, by running a series of bespoke webinars in summer: London Early Years Campaign | London City Hall
- Following member engagement events, PACEY Cymru provided a response to the Welsh Government’s consultation on the National Minimum Standards. This was one of 10 consultation responses submitted in 2022 in Wales
- Supporting work related to the Independent Review of Childminding in Wales to reflect the voice of the sector (due to be published in early 2023)
- Claire Protheroe, the National Manager for Wales for PACEY Cymru featured on BBC Wales Live in December to speak about the cost of childcare in Wales and share perspective from the sector on the challenges they are facing
- Continued to work with Welsh Government, local authorities and other key stakeholders to highlight challenges and opportunities in relation to the expansion of Flying Start in Wales and other funded programmes.
Looking ahead to 2023
Thank you to all our members and partners who have supported us during 2022. As we look ahead to 2023 and cross our fingers for a less exhausting year, we want to remind you that PACEY remains by your side to provide everything you need. Your personal stories, insight and experiences help us provide fantastic benefits and influence change in the sector so please stay in touch with us.
We wish everyone a happy and restful festive period and we look forward to hearing from you in the New Year.
