In the early years, concerns over the lack of staff and crucial facilities like playgrounds and toilets have been expressed.
Early childhood experts cautioned that elementary schools may not have sufficient space, specialist staff, or facilities to deliver the 10,000 new nursery places in England that the government has pledged.
Labour is under an intense burden to provide enough places to fulfil its pledge of 30 hours of free childcare per week for eligible parents of kids from 3 years down to nine months from next September, a government commitment.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, declared last week that the first phase of Labour’s plan to open 300 public nurseries would be launched by next September in elementary schools with empty classrooms due to declining birthrates.
However, experts cautioned that £15m capital funding for the first phase may not be sufficient to cover the cost of preparing schools to accept these toddlers.
Existing nurseries are finding it difficult to balance their books. Also, it is hard to hire and retain staff due to poor remuneration. They are seeking answers whether cash-strapped schools are willing to step into early childcare.
Dr Aaron Bradbury, an early childhood lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, stated, “You can’t just say, ‘I’ve got a free classroom—let’s turn it into a nursery.’ The space and facilities you need are completely different.”
He stated that the idea of using primary schools was a rational one; however, “it needs a much more thought-out plan”.”
He added: “A classroom has got 30 children sitting at tables, but two-year-olds are very different. They need space to develop and learn through play.”
Bradbury stated that schools might wind up spending thousands on changes like lowering windows so that very young children can look out of them, in addition to amenities like kid-sized restrooms and a door into an outside play area that the older kids don’t utilize.
He stated that schools would require a separate sleeping space, kitchen facilities for sanitizing bottles, restrooms, and a peaceful, quiet location for changing diapers for children under two.
Sue Cowley, an expert in school behaviour and a co-administrator of her local preschool for over a decade, states, “I’m not sure schools will want to take nine-month-olds. The ratios of staff to children are really high, so it is tough to make the funding work, and it can be harder to find staff who only want to look after babies.”
Some experts say empty classrooms will need to be bigger even for children who are two years old and older. Cowley stated, “For this age, you need lots of space for all the different areas of learning. For instance, inside, we have a sand tray, a climbing frame, a book corner where they sit to read, an art area, and so on.”
The general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers union, Paul Whiteman, confirmed that some schools already had plans to establish nurseries and would be pleased to begin; however, they emphasized there needed to be “meaningful action to tackle the current workforce crisis the early years sector is facing” if these nurseries were to succeed.
A study released this summer by the Early Years Alliance, representing 14,000 providers of care and education to children under five in England, disclosed that 80% of providers found it challenging to hire staff in the past years. Over six out of ten also reported that six staff left the sector entirely in the past six months.
The alliance’s chief officer, Neil Leitch, stated, “I don’t recall a secretary of state ever saying, ‘My No 1 priority is early years,’ as Bridget Phillipson has.”
Yet he went further, saying, “The rhetoric is right, and the intention is solid, but the narrative of opposition doesn’t necessarily become the reality of office.” Leitch said low pay was a big driver of people leaving or not choosing the sector, especially during a cost-of-living crisis, but many were also leaving because they felt “undervalued and exhausted.”
Bridget Phillipson stated that last week, primary schools had “real enthusiasm” about handling nurseries.
The Department of Education’s spokesperson stated, “Due to years of decline, families in some areas are struggling to find provision that meets their needs, and the school-based nurseries programme is an important first step towards delivering much-needed places across all our communities.”
