Labour has pledged to convert 3,334 spare classrooms into school-based nurseries, providing an extra 100,000 childcare places to meet anticipated extra demand from the expansion of the funded hours.
The new nurseries, which would be paid for by revenue raised from ending tax breaks for private schools, could be run by schools themselves or local private and voluntary providers. Labour estimates it will cost an average of £40,000 to turn classrooms in existing primary schools into 'school-based nurseries'.
The government also aims to improve the availability and quality of childcare for families by opening the nurseries in primary schools in areas with severe shortages of places, or childcare ‘deserts'.
While we await more details of how the plan will work in practice, we want to hear from nursery and pre-school owners/ managers, childminders, and school leaders about your initial thoughts on the policy.
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PVI providers – would you be interested in operating a nursery in a school classroom?
- School leaders – do you plan on running a nursery yourself, or working with a PVI setting?
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Do you view this as an opportunity to expand your own provision outside of your current setting?
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What do you consider are the challenges?
Please share your views by taking part in our short survey by 5pm Monday 22 July for an upcoming issue in Nursery World. If you'd like to get in touch directly contact us at news.nw@markallengroup.com
Many thanks in advance for contributing.
