Gov to deliver 300 school-based nurseries from September

The Government has pledged to deliver the first wave of 300 school-based nurseries from September, in a move that will help hundreds of families access childcare. The rollout of 30 government-funded hours of childcare will save parents up to £7,500 on average, while £450 per year will be saved through free breakfast clubs in schools. Funding for the programme has been more than doubled to £37m. The new or expanded nurseries will ensure children can access high-quality early education as part of the government’s Plan for Change, delivering on its manifesto pledge for thousands of school-based nurseries across the country by the end of this Parliament. The first 300 school-based nurseries will be located in towns and cities across the country, from Exeter to North Tyneside. Overall, they will offer an average of 20 places per site and up to 6,000 new places in total, with up to 4,000 set to be available by the end of September. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Delivering on our promise of a better early years system is my top priority, which is why we’ve more than doubled our investment in this first phase so thousands more children can benefit from a high-quality early education from this September. “We said we’d act, and now we have. But this is just the beginning - we’ve set a hugely important milestone to get tens of thousands more children every year school-ready by age 5 as part of our Plan for Change. We’re raising the bar for early years, delivering on our manifesto commitments and building a system that gives every child the best start in life.” This comes as new research released last month shows that early education is vital for children’s development and school readiness. School-based early education tends to be more inclusive – with a higher proportion of children with special educational needs than other settings. And in areas where deprivation is higher, having early years provision embedded within a primary school helps children settle into learning in a familiar and trusted environment. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “There should be no higher priority for the government than investment in the early years. The evidence is clear that high quality early education can make a lasting difference to children’s lives, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. “It is therefore extremely positive to see the first wave of new and expanded school-based nurseries being announced today. Schools play a vital role in the early years ecosystem, and this should help strengthen that further.”