School-based nurseries update

As you may have now seen, this morning the Secretary of State for Education announced that from next month state-funded primary schools will be invited to bid for capital funding to create or expand on-site nurseries

As is currently the case, these nurseries can be school-run or delivered by schools partnering with private and voluntary early years providers on school sites.

This is the first step to delivering the government’s ambition for 3,000 new nurseries in primary schools and will be used to take learnings for future years to ensure the programme is delivered in a way that will benefit parents and children. Schools will also be able to express an interest for future phases of the programme to help assess demand in different parts of the country.

Schools interested in bidding for this first funding round are urged to start discussions with their local authorities, governing organisations and wider stakeholders to consider pupil place planning, local childcare sufficiency and next steps for setting up and running new or expanded nurseries. More details on the funding and guidance to support schools will be issued at the date of launch.

The department will continue to work closely with schools, local authorities, and providers to understand what is needed to deliver this, to ensure provision meets the needs of families and schools, and to reflect the local authority role in managing childcare sufficiency in funding decisions.