sarah707
10-02-2013, 04:22 PM
I have been asked to provide a sample letter for people to use when they are writing to their MP or local authority.
It is hard to write a template letter because I do not want to put words into your fingers... so here are a few ideas which I hope you will find useful :D
Your address
The date
Dear - address it to a person. Check the spelling of their name and whether they are Mr, Dr, Mrs, Ms, Rt Hon, xx MP etc.
My name is xx and I am an Ofsted registered childminder / a parent / nursery worker. You might want to say a bit about yourself here - your years of experience, your love of children, your Ofsted grading, your business ethos etc.
I am writing to express my concerns about the Government’s ‘More Great Childcare’ plan. My concerns are about the following parts of the plan (only include the bits in your letter that affect / worry you) -
Qualifications - do you have any thoughts about the changes to the qualifications requirements? Do you think it is important to have better qualified early years providers? Do you think that higher qualifications = higher quality care? Does a degree, for example, qualify a nursery worker to manage the individual needs of 6 x 2 year olds at a time?
Ratios - do you think that all early years providers should be able to increase their ratios, regardless of the floor space available? Do you think that more children per adult = better levels of care, attention and education for the children? How do you think more children per adult will affect outcomes for children in the future?
What about your sustainability if every local childminder AND every local nursery AND every local pre-school have higher automatic ratios AND children are encouraged to start school at age 2 AND there are more after school clubs? Are there enough children locally to fill the spaces?
Lowering childcare costs - do you earn the minimum wage after you have taken expenses off your income? How do you feel about taking on more children so you have to work much harder every day - and buy extra equipment and toys - for less income per child? How will this affect your morale and your business?
Agencies - how will childminder agencies affect you? According to documents I have read it is likely that they will set your fees, handle your payments, take a percentage of your income, tell you what documentation to use, tell you which insurance company to buy from, offer you training, and, apparently find work for you. Do you already have access to these services anyway?
Are you confident that, if your agency is the local nursery, they will send you work if they have spaces free themselves? Do you think your local primary school has enough knowledge about childminders to be successful managing your business? Are you worried about what extra requirements agencies might heap on you? Are you happy to lose your individual Ofsted grading and be graded according to how the agency is performing?
If you do not think agencies are a good idea for you - then you might want to talk about what will happen to your business when Family Information Services and other local support networks are disbanded? What will happen to your business and Ofsted grading if you cannot access training, support, local help etc?
To finish your letter think about what the ‘More Great Childcare’ plan will do to your business. Its aims are to -
• Increase adult : child ratios - what will what do to your sustainability?
• Bring down costs for parents - how? By you looking after more children for less pay per child?
• Introduce childminder agencies - do you want an agency?
• Respond to the recent qualifications review - do higher qualifications really equal higher quality care?
Write a brief conclusion bringing all your points together. You might find it helpful to focus on -
• Outcomes for the children
• Your business and its future sustainability.
You can use wording from the Childminding Forum 'Leave our Ratios alone' petition here if you wish - just put it in quotes and (even better) mention the forum petition and its 20,000+ supporters in your letter!!
www.keepratiosdown.co.uk
Thank you for reading my letter. As I am sure you can see I am very concerned about the Government's plans.
I look forward to hearing your comments.
Yours - because you are writing to a named person you should use 'sincerely'. If you are writing to 'dear sir / madam' you would put 'faithfully'. If you prefer you can leave it at 'yours' it doesn't matter.
Your name
Your qualifications / Ofsted registered childminder / parent etc
You will find lots more help for wording your letter on this thread here -
http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/campaigns-petitions/114247-email-write-letter-make-your-feelings-known.html
Letter writing tips
Try to keep your letter to one or 2 sides of A4 - it is more likely to be read.
If you are not sure, get it proofed - I am always happy to read letters and so are lots of other forum members.
Print it on nice paper and don’t forget a stamp for the envelope!
Check the address online.
Include a copy of the forum leaflet!! It is on this thread -
http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/campaigns-petitions/114136-leaflet-parents-other-settings-childminders-etc.html
Together we will make ourselves heard! :cheerleader::cheerleader:
It is hard to write a template letter because I do not want to put words into your fingers... so here are a few ideas which I hope you will find useful :D
Your address
The date
Dear - address it to a person. Check the spelling of their name and whether they are Mr, Dr, Mrs, Ms, Rt Hon, xx MP etc.
My name is xx and I am an Ofsted registered childminder / a parent / nursery worker. You might want to say a bit about yourself here - your years of experience, your love of children, your Ofsted grading, your business ethos etc.
I am writing to express my concerns about the Government’s ‘More Great Childcare’ plan. My concerns are about the following parts of the plan (only include the bits in your letter that affect / worry you) -
Qualifications - do you have any thoughts about the changes to the qualifications requirements? Do you think it is important to have better qualified early years providers? Do you think that higher qualifications = higher quality care? Does a degree, for example, qualify a nursery worker to manage the individual needs of 6 x 2 year olds at a time?
Ratios - do you think that all early years providers should be able to increase their ratios, regardless of the floor space available? Do you think that more children per adult = better levels of care, attention and education for the children? How do you think more children per adult will affect outcomes for children in the future?
What about your sustainability if every local childminder AND every local nursery AND every local pre-school have higher automatic ratios AND children are encouraged to start school at age 2 AND there are more after school clubs? Are there enough children locally to fill the spaces?
Lowering childcare costs - do you earn the minimum wage after you have taken expenses off your income? How do you feel about taking on more children so you have to work much harder every day - and buy extra equipment and toys - for less income per child? How will this affect your morale and your business?
Agencies - how will childminder agencies affect you? According to documents I have read it is likely that they will set your fees, handle your payments, take a percentage of your income, tell you what documentation to use, tell you which insurance company to buy from, offer you training, and, apparently find work for you. Do you already have access to these services anyway?
Are you confident that, if your agency is the local nursery, they will send you work if they have spaces free themselves? Do you think your local primary school has enough knowledge about childminders to be successful managing your business? Are you worried about what extra requirements agencies might heap on you? Are you happy to lose your individual Ofsted grading and be graded according to how the agency is performing?
If you do not think agencies are a good idea for you - then you might want to talk about what will happen to your business when Family Information Services and other local support networks are disbanded? What will happen to your business and Ofsted grading if you cannot access training, support, local help etc?
To finish your letter think about what the ‘More Great Childcare’ plan will do to your business. Its aims are to -
• Increase adult : child ratios - what will what do to your sustainability?
• Bring down costs for parents - how? By you looking after more children for less pay per child?
• Introduce childminder agencies - do you want an agency?
• Respond to the recent qualifications review - do higher qualifications really equal higher quality care?
Write a brief conclusion bringing all your points together. You might find it helpful to focus on -
• Outcomes for the children
• Your business and its future sustainability.
You can use wording from the Childminding Forum 'Leave our Ratios alone' petition here if you wish - just put it in quotes and (even better) mention the forum petition and its 20,000+ supporters in your letter!!
www.keepratiosdown.co.uk
Thank you for reading my letter. As I am sure you can see I am very concerned about the Government's plans.
I look forward to hearing your comments.
Yours - because you are writing to a named person you should use 'sincerely'. If you are writing to 'dear sir / madam' you would put 'faithfully'. If you prefer you can leave it at 'yours' it doesn't matter.
Your name
Your qualifications / Ofsted registered childminder / parent etc
You will find lots more help for wording your letter on this thread here -
http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/campaigns-petitions/114247-email-write-letter-make-your-feelings-known.html
Letter writing tips
Try to keep your letter to one or 2 sides of A4 - it is more likely to be read.
If you are not sure, get it proofed - I am always happy to read letters and so are lots of other forum members.
Print it on nice paper and don’t forget a stamp for the envelope!
Check the address online.
Include a copy of the forum leaflet!! It is on this thread -
http://www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/campaigns-petitions/114136-leaflet-parents-other-settings-childminders-etc.html
Together we will make ourselves heard! :cheerleader::cheerleader: