Nursery staff 'extremely anxious' as schools in Tier 4 Covid hotspots close but early years settings stay open

Nurseries and other early years providers are currently being told to stay open even in Tier 4 Covid hotspot areas, despite schools being closed, with staff “extremely anxious” about themselves, their families and the children they care for.

In the wake of announcements over school closures, with the government doing a U-turn and completely closing all schools in London, nursery chiefs have voiced their anger over early years providers being ignored.

Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) said: “Nurseries and childcare providers are being put into an intolerable position by the Government – being told it is safe to open while some schools are being advised to close.

“This is causing real fear for staff, parents and providers. It is shocking that early years are being ignored again in this debate despite the fact that the sector has worked like a fourth emergency service throughout.”

The NDNA is calling for the government to prioritise vaccinations for early years staff and says the government “must provide the financial support the sector needs to avoid mass closures”.

She added: “We cannot have a situation like last spring where nurseries were asked to care for only key worker and vulnerable children. Last April only 32 per cent of settings were open caring for just four per cent of their usual numbers of children. This would lead to disastrous consequences for the sustainability of the sector.”

The Department for Education's (DfE) decision to delay the opening of all secondary schools and some primary schools in England whilst saying childminders, nurseries and pre-schools should continue to be open to all children has led to major concern and confusion according to PACEY (Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years).

Liz Bayram, its chief executive said: “The decision to keep early years and childcare settings open regardless of ever increasing levels of infection in most areas was taken in a rush and without any consultation with PACEY or other early years stakeholders. Unsurprisingly we are now awash with confused members, unsure whether it is right to remain open; whether they can support parents asking them to care for their school age children whilst the local school remains closed.

"Once again early years and childcare are just tacked onto the end of major school policy decisions with no real understanding of how families use these vital services."

Ms Bayram urged early years providers to “undertake their own risk assessment and use this to decide if they feel it is safe to remain open even if their local primary schools are closed”.

The Early Years Alliance has written to education secretary Gavin Williamson and children and families minister Vicky Ford criticising the omission of the early years sector from discussions around whether or not it is safe for education providers to remain open in light of rising Covid-19 rates in some areas of the country.

Alliance chief executive Neil Leitch, said: “If the government is this concerned about the spread of the virus in primary schools, it must provide clear, scientific evidence for why the early years should be treated differently. If it cannot provide this vital reassurance, then it surely has no choice but take the necessary decision to close early years settings and provide the financial support providers will need to remain viable during such temporary closures.

“Those working in the early years are understandably extremely anxious about the safety and wellbeing of themselves, their colleagues, their families and the children they care for, but have sadly been made to feel that their safety simply does not matter.”

The letter also calls on the Department for Education to reinstate early entitlement funding support for early years providers during the spring term, in light of the fact that heightened restrictions are likely to result in a significant reduction in the demand for childcare.

During the autumn term 2020, the government provided funding to nurseries, pre-schools and childminders for 'free childcare' places based on pre-Covid attendance levels - however, this support is being removed as of the start of January.