Everyone who works in the nursery sector will tell you that money and resources are tight, and can't be stretched any further – yet at the same time, fees for parents are higher than ever.
There are various reasons for this, but it mostly comes down to the fact that nurseries don't get enough money to cover the government-funded places they provide.
At our nursery, we have space for 48 children per day. Half of these places are funded, which is the free 15 hours per child that you get from the government as a parent.
Our nursery receives £3.38 per hour per child for a funded place, whereas our standard rate for a paid place is about £4.50. Most families use a mix of funded and unfunded hours as children are with us on average 25 hours a week.
So, we have a shortfall. And because funded places are term time only, we are also left with gaps we could fill in the holidays, which means more loss of income.
This situation is costing our nursery about £45,000 a year in revenue that we would have received if all places were funded at £4.50 per hour. Now we're facing the possibility of free hours being extended by a new government, without any promise of more funding.
Of course, we'd love to take on more children. Every child should have the right to good early years care, and something must be done to tackle the crippling cost of childcare for parents – but the only way for more hours to be viable in nurseries is if they are funded at a level that matches our costs.
A year and a half ago we had 25 staff members, mostly part-time. Now we're down to 16. We still meet our requirements in terms of children to staff ratios, but we no longer have the ‘luxury’ of an extra person if needed - if someone calls in sick at 7am, I have to race around finding cover before we open to make sure we have enough staff for the day.
We work really hard to make sure the children here aren't affected by our money worries, but things like parents’ evenings are suffering - I can't pay staff to attend, so parents and carers don't get to chat to the people who look after their children every day. Similarly, it's really important for staff to go on courses and learn new things, and they end up having to do it on their days off because I can't spare them.
In terms of equipment, we'll spend money where we have to. We have to be very creative, and work with what we can afford. Even buying a load of glitter and colourful craft stuff to make Christmas cards and decorations is a financial strain. Unlike schools, we don't qualify for a VAT exemption, and unlike schools, we can't offer free lunches and fruit snacks because we don't get that funding either.
It's incredibly important to retain good staff; the children need consistency and people who are passionate about their development, but we have staff who've been loyal to use since we opened 17 years ago who we can't reward financially for their hard work.
It's essential that the government gets this right - they need to back up election-friendly promises about free care with real money, otherwise the standard of care will decline. Early years education is so important – we’re tuning children in to learning, helping them enjoy play, and setting the foundations for everything that comes after they leave us. Please don't make us do this vital job on even more of a shoestring.
You can read the National Day Nurseries Association's report here.