Prospects for the conventional English nursery school do not look good at the moment. A relentless process of closure and amalgamation into primary schools has continued for the past ten years. There are now fewer than 500 nursery schools left across the country. In the Government's recently published Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners, there is just one reference to nursery schools, whereas there is a commitment to create at least 2,500 Children's Centres by 2008. It appears inevitable that the future for nursery education lies with the Children's Centres and the Extended Schools initiatives.
Like many organisations, the nursery school in England came into being through a strange and tangled process. If you don't have at least some grasp of this history, it is difficult to understand the complicated and sometimes contradictory system we have now.
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