Local Government Association
24 October 2018
Future of maintained nurseries and support for children with special needs at risk - LGA survey
The Mirror
24 October 2018
'Grave concerns' about future of council-run nurseries and support for special needs pupils as Tories refuse to guarantee vital funding
Council-run nurseries will lose almost £60m a year from 2020 unless action is taken
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/grave-concerns-future-council-run-13468299
The Guardian
22 October 2018
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils, has also highlighted the threat to support for the 5,000 youngest children with SEND in maintained nursery schools.
TES
5 October 2018
Exclusive: SEND cuts 'breaking' nursery schools
More than a third of maintained nursery schools have less funding for SEND pupils than last year, research shows
https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-send-cuts-breaking-nursery-schools
The Independent
16 September 2018
Cross-party MPs call on government to take ‘urgent action’ to stop nursery school closures
‘Ability of nurseries to provide support for vulnerable children is being seriously undermined’
The Observer
16 September 2018
Cross-party effort to save nursery schools
The Guardian
31 January 2017
Nursery schools: "What society gives children less chance than their parents?"
Homerton early years centre, Cambridge, part of the original nursery schools movement, opened in 1940. Now it is at risk of closure.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jan/31/nursey-school-children-early-years-education
The Guardian
27 January 2017
My child blossomed at a state nursery – we can't let these places close. With 57% of maintained nursery schools rated ‘outstanding’, it seems madness for them to face cuts. If anything, their remit ought to be extended. https://www.theguardian.com/education/commentisfree/2017/jan/27/child-state-nursery-school
The Guardian
24 January 2017
Survey finds maintained nursery schools, which often target children from difficult backgrounds, face "death by a thousand cuts" as funding crisis hits.
BBC2 Victoria Derbyshire
18 November 2016
Lucy Powell Labour MP for Manchester Central and Ruth Mercer Head Teacher of Robert Owen Nursery School in Greenwich talk about the issue facing State Maintained Nursery Schools and why they are so crucial.
Discussion is 48mins in to the programme.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b082wqg4/victoria-derbyshire-18112016
Nursery World
18 November 2016
"Nursery school campaigners are calling for sector-wide backing and government rethink on funding reforms after their online petition tipped the 14,000 mark in just over a fortnight."
Mirror
17 November 2016
"Multiple studies have shown the single most effective institution for creating social mobility is not the grammer school but local authority nursery schools - known as 'maintained' nurseries."
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nurseries-first-test-theresa-mays-9282192#ICID=sharebar_twitter
Children & Young People Now
11 October 2016
"There are around 400 nursery schools across England. According to Ofsted, 60 per cent of these are rated as "outstanding", compared with 17 per cent of nurseries and 13 per cent of childminders."
http://www.cypnow.co.uk/cyp/news/2002574/nursery-school-funding-set-for-shake-up
Mirror
22 Sept 2016
Russell Hobby, NAHT general secretary, contrasted the crisis with Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans to open a new wave of grammar schools.
He said:“In contrast to grammar schools, high quality nursery education is a proven method of helping the most disadvantaged families.
“It is inexplicable that a government serious about social mobility would focus on one at the expense of the other.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nursery-schools-could-forced-shut-8883296
ITV Report 22 September
The government are brick by brick dismantling many of the educational achievements of the coalition government. Evidence shows that solid progress in the nursery sector does more for social mobility than selection at 11 but yet again ideology trumps evidence.
This lethal combination of haphazard planning and prejudice will decimate one of the most treasured and valued sectors of our educational system.
http://www.itv.com/news/2016-09-22/30-hour-free-childcare-threatens-hundreds-of-nurseries/
Valerie Daniel, headteacher of Washwood Heath Nursery School in Birmingham said beyond the transitional funding, the government has "no plans to secure their future".
This will lead to a massive loss for nursery schools, with larger settings potentially losing more than £200,000 from their current budgets, which have already been hit by local budget cuts. I fear that a significant loss to maintained nursery budgets will create a ripple effect on safeguarding the most vulnerable children in the region.