New call to end closures of nursery schools
Ruth Thomson
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The Government must stop the closure of maintained nursery schools and take steps to ensure the sustainability of the surviving settings, the National Campaign for Real Nursery Education has said.
At the organisation's AGM last month, three resolutions were agreed unanimously. As well as demanding a halt to closures, the NCrNE called on the Government 'to monitor urgently the implementation of the Single Funding Formula to ensure that it does not threaten the viability and quality of local authority maintained nursery school and class provision.'
The NCrNE noted, 'In a time of rapid expansion we should protect what early years expertise and effective practice there is, for its own sake and to offer a model for others.'
It also urged the coalition Government to reverse the previous Government's decision to implement a single point of admission to reception classes and return to a policy where children start school at the beginning of the term after their fifth birthday.
