Y Pwyllgor Deisebau / Petitions Committee
Bae Caerdydd / Cardiff Bay
Caerdydd / Cardiff
CF99 1NA

Dear Committee members

I am a working mother with a young son living in the Vale of Glamorgan, and I would like to support P-04-346: Petition on provision of early years education. I did sign the petition, but I understand that although the petition is now closed for signatures you are still collecting evidence.

I understand that you are interested in three main areas:

1) Are you able to access early years education for your 3-4 year old in a way that is convenient to you?

Not easily; as I work 4 days a week I would somehow have to arrange childcare before and after my son's daily free early years education, and also arrange getting him to and from this.

2) Does the provision of early years education for your 3-4 year old enhance or hinder your opportunities to work or study?

At the moment we're lucky in that my parents are able to look after our son one day a week, and my husband can work flexi hours in order to have him one afternoon a week. However, this entails us working longer hours, and paying at least £500 a month for childcare, but we are not able to afford for me not to work. Taking advantage of the early years education could impact heavily on the hours I can work around the early years education, and my employer, although flexible, may not be able to accommodate these 'piecemeal' working hours.

3) Have you declined to take up provision for early years education for your 3-4 year old as it is inconvenient for you to do so? If so, what childcare provisions have you made instead?

My son is not yet 2, so we have not made a final decision on this. However it is something we have considered as we may find it more expensive, and most importantly, more unsettling, for our son to attend different childcare locations throughout the day, just for the sake of taking up the option of state-provided early years education. If we are able to, we will leave him in the nursery that we are currently paying for him to attend.

If working families were able to choose how the hours of early years education were provided, I'm sure you'd find that the majority would prefer to put their children into two full days of nursery instead of trying to work around the hours currently provided on a daily basis.

Thank you for your assistance in considering this petition.

Yours sincerely,

Laura Knight