Don't ignore nurseries while expanding childcare, says principal
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There are concerns the childcare strategy is focused on expanding childcare rather than protecting nursery education.
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Don't ignore nurseries while expanding childcare, says principal 17 minutes ago Share Save Robbie Meredith Education and arts correspondent, BBC News NI Share Save The importance of nursery school education is at risk of being overlooked in the Stormont Executive's childcare strategy, a nursery school principal has said. Claire Evans from St Teresa's Nursery has written to Education Minister Paul Givan raising concerns that the draft strategy is focused on expanding childcare rather than protecting nursery education. She also chairs the west Belfast area learning nursery cluster group, which includes 24 nursery schools in the area. "It's not just about our school, it's about our whole community," she said. She said there was concern the "quality teacher-led provision" nursery schools provide was overlooked in the strategy. BBC News NI contacted the Department of Education for a response to Evans' concerns. What are the main features of the strategy? The headline measure in the strategy is a plan to subsidise more than half of all childcare costs for working families by April 2032. According to the strategy, the average cost of full-time childcare for a family is £57 a day per child, or just under £15,000 a year before any deductions or subsidies. The executive's programme for government had made affordable and accessible childcare a priority. The strategy also aims to ensure all childcare staff are paid at least the real living wage - a voluntary pay rate set by the Living Wage Foundation - currently £13.45 an hour outside London. It aims to provide 22.5 hours of pre-school education a week for all children in the year before they start primary school. There has been a shortage of pre-school places for children with special educational needs in previous years. A consultation on the draft strategy closes on Tuesday. Evans said nursery schools should be seen as education rather than childcare. She wrote to Givan about her concerns, and he replied. "He has stated that ...
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