‘Undervalued and underfunded – Growing Places nursery boss highlights lack of support for early years sector

During his announcement of the current recent lockdown, prime minister Boris Johnson said schools were being closed as they represented ‘vectors of transmission’. Previously the government also pledged to introduce rigorous testing systems in secondary schools.

After the government's pledge that all nurseries and early years will remain open, the ‘failure to acknowledge’ the challenges they face has left Growing Places chief executive Jackie Warren feeling the sector has been ‘undervalued’.

Jackie said: ‘Having remained open throughout the initial lockdown to support existing families, new families and the wider community, there was no question for us that we would want to do the same again this time. The sting in the tail is the lack of acknowledgement for the early years sector, yet again.

‘As a key and vital part of the education sector we are continually undervalued and underfunded - this has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. Whilst schools and teachers’ plight is highlighted daily, the only publicity about early years has been around those who closed and those who charged whilst being closed.’

The plight of the early years sector has the support of parents who use Growing Places nurseries who have branches in Cowplain, Emsworth and Havant. All its nurseries remained open throughout the pandemic enabling key workers including NHS staff to continue working on the front line.

Bethany Carter, who works as a senior lead infection control nurse at Solent NHS, said: ‘I found my three-year-old’s nursery would not be opening during lockdown and Jackie and her team did everything possible to ensure they had space for Alice to start at their nursery. My family are eternally grateful for all their help and support through the pandemic.’

Fellow parent Nicola Cook added: ‘Nursery staff should be appreciated for the brilliant job they’re doing and the continued hard work that has not stopped since the beginning of this pandemic. This has allowed nurses, doctors, radiographers, hospital porters and cleaners to be able to be where they need to be. I don't think people realise how valuable they all are.’

Earlier this month the director of Tops Day Nurseries, Cheryl Hadland, also highlighted a lack of government support for early years providers and called for testing and early vaccination of staff.

Mrs Hadland said: ‘It’s a nightmare situation. We want to deliver our service but we are not getting the support to do so. If the government are going to prioritise nurseries remaining open then nursery staff should be considered for priority vaccinations.

SEE ALSO: Tops Day Nurseries director warns of early years staffing crisis as furlough scheme set to end

Responding to the situation a Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: ‘Keeping nurseries open will support parents and deliver the crucial care and education for our youngest children. Current evidence suggests that pre-school children are less susceptible to infection and are unlikely to be playing a driving role in transmission.

‘We encourage local authorities to prioritise appropriate testing for early years staff through their community testing programmes as they are being established. We are funding nurseries as usual and where nurseries do see a drop in income from either parent-paid fees or income from DfE, they are able to use the furlough scheme.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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