Don't ignore nurseries while expanding childcare, says principal

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?

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.

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 the department does not view statutory nursery schools as being childcare. We really welcome that," she said.

Evans said it was especially important that nursery schools were protected as part of the strategy.

"We have to provide children who are ready to learn in P1," she said.

Evans said west Belfast was "quite typical" of Northern Ireland due to legacy issues from the Troubles.

"We know that there's a higher number of children with special educational needs and there's also children who require very specific approaches to support them in school.

"We are trained teachers so we are under the auspices of the Department of Education, we have to be compliant with all new curricular changes, making sure that the children learn and develop.

"To lump all of us in to childcare is not fair to the public.

"What parents need to know is that we are trying our best to protect the highest quality education for our children."

'If we expand places will we be able to fill nursery provision?'

But Evans said she feared nursery schools were not being protected in the strategy.

"When we look at trends in nursery education, and the birth rate is predicted to decrease in the next five years, that won't have an affect on secondary school but it will have a direct consequence on nursery schools," she said.

"My concern, and others, is if we expand places will we be able to fill nursery provision?"

She said an "informed and strategic approach" to expanding places was needed "to ensure that we protect the quality of nursery schools".

"We are fully supportive of a focus on early years because we know early intervention is key," she said.

"We do support the expansion of that as long as it does not undermine the quality of the best provision.

"We should not risk reducing the funding, the resourcing of our statutory provision which we know is the jewel in the crown of education.

"That should not come at the expense of expanding places."

Leaine Rodgers' four-year-old daughter Zara has SEN and attends St Teresa's Nursery School.

Zara was born at 26 weeks.

"Her transition into school was very important for me, just to get her the right support," she said.

Leaine said going to nursery school had helped Zara "thrive".

"Socially, behaviourally, everything basically, her toileting needs, her eating needs, making friends, speech, everything," she said.

"They have structure for Zara, they have visuals for Zara, they have a routine.

"She loves it, getting her in can be a bit of a trouble but once she's here she's happy."