Yay or nay? Educators weigh up pros and cons of government’s £37m proposal for 300 new school-based nurseries
Pre-school managers have reacted to the government’s £37m drive to create up to 6,000 new places in school-based nurseries.
The first round of funding will see 300 new or expanded school-based nurseries run out of existing schools from September, most concentrated in the North and Midlands.
The scheme is expected to save thousands of pounds in childcare and make drop-off and pick-ups easier for families with multiple children.
But some early year’s practitioners have said sending children as young as two into schools will affect their early social development.
NHS research shows 90 per cent of a child’s brain growth happens before the age of five.
Paula Read, manager at Beenham Pre-School, said: “I send children off to school every year. And some of them aren't ready go into the classroom.
“There's probably a misconception about what education means to a two and three-year-old.
“It doesn't mean counting and writing. It means social independence and emotional regulation and socialising.
“I've been doing this for 25 years. The assumption that their education will be better because they’re in a school environment really upsets me because it undermines everything we do.”
Newburytoday reported recently how a growing number of children in West Berkshire are starting school with underdeveloped social skills or requiring additional care like toilet training, according to government inspectors.
Fiona Oyekan, manager at Acorns Nursery School in Calcot, added: “This shift risks prioritising economic imperatives over children’s best interests treating early education more as a means to free up parental labour than as an investment in the next generation.”
But not everyone is against the proposal.
Headteacher Heidi Davies said she is trialling five full-time placements for children aged three to four at Brimpton Primary School from September, separate to the government scheme.
She said she is confident the small family feel, close communication with parents and already having a teaching assistant who is a qualified nursery nurse should address the aforementioned concerns.
She said: “Nursery provision is such a fundamental part of a child's development.
“But you have to work to provide for your family. Parents need somewhere safe for their children to go.
“I think [the younger children] will just integrate naturally because the older children will make sure that happy.
“And it would mean their transition into reception, which is so huge, would be minimised for those children who already know our environment.
“They might have some developmental milestones to still meet. But with good communication, good resources and amazing staff, I believe we can make the difference.”
MP for Reading and Mid Berkshire Olivia Bailey also weighed in.
“PVI settings like Beenham are hugely important,” she said.
“I know the government’s ambition is that parents have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and childcare in both PVI settings and in schools.
“We have increased investment in early years so we can drive forward progress towards our Plan for Change target of a record number of children starting school ready to learn.”
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