Introducing an Integrated Model of Nurturing Care for Infants and Toddlers at Child Care Centres

Overview

Jockey Club 'Bright Start' Project is a 3-year support services to the childcare centres and research study donated by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to create and examine a quality nurturing care model for childcare services for young children under the age of three in Hong Kong. According to the statistics of 2021, there are 29 aided standalone and non-profit making / private childcare centres (CCC) in Hong Kong, providing approximately 3,353 places for children from birth to the age of three. Considering the insufficient number of places, on one hand, there is an outcry for an expansion in the childcare service provision to release the maternal or paternal workforce (e.g. Xia & Ma, 2019). On the other hand, there are comparative studies indicating the quality standards of CCCs demand further improvement (e.g. Chan, 2019). Thus, our integrated model was designed to address the operational and practical needs identified in centre-based childcare services in Hong Kong, and to provide quality nurturing education and care in this critical period of development in infants and toddlers. The model comprises four major components including capacity building of the practitioners and families, developing a learning framework specific to the holistic development of 0-3 years children, implementing a multidisciplinary team to strengthen child protection, health and nutrition practices, and building a digital platform that facilitates home-centre communication as well as streamlining the operation at the centre. The model will be piloted at four CCCs to examine how this integrated model can benefit the educare process quality and children’s developmental and learning outcomes.