05/02/2026
Following the recent publication of updated guidance on school-based nursery expansion… 💭
Lately, there’s been a strong push towards school-based nursery provision as the answer to early years access. And while I understand the need for more spaces, I don’t believe moving younger and younger children into classroom-based environments is the solution. 🤔
Young children need connection. They need outdoors. They need flexibility. They need adults who can respond to them, not systems that require them to fit into a box.
Schools play an important role — but they don’t (and can’t) offer what every child needs. And that’s okay.
The beauty of the early years sector has always been its diversity: childminders and home based provision, private nurseries, forest schools, maintained nurseries, preschools and schools — each offering something different, each meeting different needs. This isn’t about pitting one type of provision against another — it’s about recognising that children, families, and communities need different things at different times. 🫶🏻
When policy and funding focus too heavily on one model, we risk narrowing choices for families and overlooking what’s truly best for children.
Early years should never be about what’s easiest to deliver, nor about fitting children into predetermined boxes.
It should always be about what children need to thrive. 🌈🫶🏻❤️
