Struggling early education providers are facing closures and funding issues, leaving parents desperate for alternatives
The Government has pledged to fix childcare in Britain, opening hundreds of new nurseries and increasing the number of free hours available for under-3s from 15 hours a week to 30 from this September. But nurseries warn the scheme is financially unsustainable and they will have to limit the places they can offer. New data shows that over 400 nurseries have closed over the last two years due to funding shortfalls and rising costs, affecting tens of thousands of children – and experts say more could face the same fate. Here, Gemma Bateman tells about the impact of her child’s nursery closing.
When I first tried to put my two-year-old daughter Amelia’s name down at one of our local nurseries last year I was told there was a two-year waiting list. Then the nursery her siblings went to reopened in September, having shut down due to Covid in 2020. The decision to enrol Amelia there was sentimental as well as practical. It was nice to know that she would be going to the same nursery as her brothers Harry, 14, Nathan, 11 and sister Emma, 10. I don’t work, and we qualified for 15 free hours a week for her which was brilliant.
Amelia is quite a shy little girl, but after two weeks, she’d made such a deep connection with her key worker that the tears at drop-off stopped. Her confidence grew and she loved it so much that on Sundays she started to say, “I’m going for a bath, I’ve got nursery tomorrow”, and get stuff ready for her start to the week.
When we got the email this month saying the nursery was closing after just seven months of reopening, I thought about not telling her. But I had to in the end – she was in floods of tears, of course. It’s heartbreaking and so frustrating after spending the time settling her in and getting to know the other kids and the staff.
As I understand it, funding had been slow to come through. I know they’ve had staffing problems – ahead of the permanent closure, which is set for April, the nursery have already told us they’re going to close one day a week because of staff shortages. I’ve read that nurseries are having to close, or charge parents more because the government funding doesn’t cover costs – we were paying £55 per term for snacks and £75 on top of the free 15 hours a week.
Whatever the reason, I wish they’d considered it when they reopened, because this has really played with people’s emotions, lives and their sense of stability.
When I spoke to Amelia about the nursery closing, she said she’d seen her key worker crying. I realised how much of a massive blow the news was for staff as well as parents. One of the nursery assistants there has a son that also attends the nursery, so she’s having to look for alternative employment as well as placements for her son. She’s devastated, but still more concerned about the parents and the other children. That’s how good the staff are there.
The plan was to get Amelia settled into nursery so I could go back to working part-time. Now this has come about, that can’t happen. I don’t have family around me to help.
Gloucester County Council sent an email on Thursday recommending some local nurseries with spaces. One of the nurseries is five miles away – I’d spend two hours just getting her there and back – and they’re only offering limited times – and limited days. Another is a good hour and a half away and the only other local nursery we have is completely chock-a-block with a waiting list of two years.
So far, I’ve put my daughter on a waiting list for that one, but nothing is guaranteed – there are no spaces and they aren’t really near enough. I’m going to have to look at local stay and plays as a childcare option – but it’s not the same. The staff and children change all the time so Amelia wouldn’t build friendships. I fear all this upheaval is going to undo all the progress she has made.