Nursery World - DfE reaffirms its commitment to helping young children impacted by the pandemic

The minister for schools and childhood, Kelly Tolhurst, has today reiterated the £180m package of support available to the early years sector to help support children's development.

Kelly Tolhurst, the minister for schools and childhood, has reiterated the package of support on offer for the early years sector PHOTO GOV.UK

The measures outlined by Tolhurst have been previously announced or promised, or are extensions of existing initiatives - they form part of the Government's Early Years Recovery Programme, launched to help children impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The aim of measures is to support the sector to focus on children's development, help address the recruitment and retention crisis and provide opportunities for staff to train as special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs)

While the National Day Nurseries Association welcomed any support, it said 'what the sector really needs is to see ministers making childcare an urgent priority and put an end to the rumours and speculation [about deregulation], which are very unsettling.'

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