NDNA to collect data on number of nursery staff with Covid
Katy Morton
Monday, January 10, 2022
Nurseries across England, Scotland and Wales are being encouraged to fill in a survey designed to find out the proportion of staff and children who are absent due to Covid.
The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) will be surveying nurseries over the next few weeks to determine how many early years employees are unable to work and the number of children that can’t attend settings because of Coronavirus.
A new survey, with the same questions, will run every Friday.
The data, which is not being captured elsewhere, will be used to lobby governments of all three nations to provide support to the early years sector.
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of NDNA, said, ‘NDNA is gathering data over the next few weeks to see what proportion of nursery workers are unable to work and how many children are unable to attend settings. This vital information will give us the evidence of the pressures on the sector and why urgent support is needed now. If early years settings are left unsupported, parents could be left without the essential childcare they need to carry on working.
‘Managing to keep nurseries open safely with such high levels of staff absence is now a daily challenge for many early years settings. With high levels of cases in communities staffing is now the number one challenge for providers.
‘Settings are being faced with changing guidance on isolation periods and if they are forced to close rooms or temporarily shut nurseries, children lose out on more early education. At the same time, the funding support announced for schools to cover staff absences is not being made available for the early years sector. Nurseries that are forced to close or draft in extra staff will lose more income at a time when they have been under incredible financial pressures.
‘The Department for Education is supporting schools by allowing them to combine classes, re-introducing staff support funds and encouraging teachers who’ve left the profession to return as volunteers. While these wouldn’t work for early years we need to see more practical and financial support to the early years sector with a pausing of routine inspections, relief from business rates and additional support to the workforce.’
- The survey for the week commencing 3 January is available here
