Schools and early years settings demand clarity on plans to re-open for more children
11/05/2020
In this article by Early Years Educator, the early years sector calls for ‘a clear plan of action’ on how it is going to be supported to re-open as lockdown eases, while schools question safety.
Early years organisations have branded the Government’s 50-page roadmap to lifting lockdown as a ‘vague outline of a strategy’, lacking real guidance.
While the roadmap, published today, states that the Government expects some children to be able to return to early years settings and primary schools from 1 June – and for childminders, from as early as this week – the sector urgently needs more detail on exactly how this is expected to work in practice.
At the Early Years Alliance, Neil Leitch said: ‘Early years providers are going to face significant changes to the way they operate on a day-to-day basis, including a likely reduction in the demand for childcare places as some parents opt to keep their children home rather than returning to their settings. As such, government urgently needs to outline what steps it is planning to take to ensure that providers are able to remain financially sustainable during this period, as well as how it will ensure that both practitioners and the families they care for can best be kept safe.
‘While we understand the government's desire to outline its plans sooner rather than later, publishing the vague outline of a strategy before any detailed guidance is available for childcare providers is unhelpful and liable to create concern and confusion for a sector already under substantial pressure.
Read the full article here.
While the roadmap, published today, states that the Government expects some children to be able to return to early years settings and primary schools from 1 June – and for childminders, from as early as this week – the sector urgently needs more detail on exactly how this is expected to work in practice.
At the Early Years Alliance, Neil Leitch said: ‘Early years providers are going to face significant changes to the way they operate on a day-to-day basis, including a likely reduction in the demand for childcare places as some parents opt to keep their children home rather than returning to their settings. As such, government urgently needs to outline what steps it is planning to take to ensure that providers are able to remain financially sustainable during this period, as well as how it will ensure that both practitioners and the families they care for can best be kept safe.
‘While we understand the government's desire to outline its plans sooner rather than later, publishing the vague outline of a strategy before any detailed guidance is available for childcare providers is unhelpful and liable to create concern and confusion for a sector already under substantial pressure.
Read the full article here.
