Will nurseries reopen at the same time as primary schools?

[Monipop84]

If primary schools go back on June 1st....

No idea, someone on a different thread said she heard on sky news nurseries will open June 1st aswell but I haven’t heard that, I suppose it will be covered tomorrow in more detail

@Girlymom2 thank you. Very puzzled as to how they will enforce social distancing in a room full of toddlers....

Not a chance in hell is my guess!!

Given that he specifically referred to reception, year 1 and year 6 probably not.

There will be no social distancing expected in early years or young primary school children.

The department for education will most likely clarify to nurseries and childcare providers in the next week or so.

I run a childcare setting. Children between 2 and 5. There will be no social distancing, the very idea is laughable. I'm not even sure we can distance from the parents effectively while peeling certain children away from them.

I'm happy to go back but beyond hygiene measures, not letting parents in which will be hard on my premises there wont be much difference to normal.

We've just had a message from Early Years Alliance, one of our professional organisations.
We have no idea when nurseries and childminders will reopen because the Government hasn't said a word about us.
No doubt EYA and other organisations will be lobbying for a clear answer. Until then... 🤷‍♀️

The guardian press briefing which followed the speech seems to be implying they will go back at the same time as primary schools.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/may/10/boris-johnson-coronavirus-lockdown-shops-schools-june-reopening

I hope so. Reading other threads, trying to work while looking after very young children is what's causing parents the most stress. Even just a day or two in nursery or with a childminder would be a godsend.

"I'm not even sure we can distance from the parents effectively while peeling certain children away from them."

It's impossible. We had a 2 year old start with us - parents are keyworkers whose nursery closed. Not surprisingly, the first drop-off was extremely difficult as we couldn't do settling in sessions in the normal way.
We could not social distance: we had to take the child from the parent's arms, we couldn't invite the parent in, and we had to comfort the child with cuddles before we could even think of washing or gelling hands.

We are going to have that again when all the children return: they will all need to be settled in again and some are going to struggle.

I strongly suspect that early years provisions will go back but possibly with restriction. Such as my daughters pre-school which is 2-5 years olds and 95% (if not more) funded by free hours - those transitioning to reception and key worker children will be prioritised over those that have another full year to go? Not sure how nurseries which take 0-5 would work however.

@Tanith DD only had 6 weeks of nursery before lockdown started. She's 12 months and without new settling in sessions she is going to struggle!

"Reception" covers 3+ doesn't it?

R1 = 3 and 4 year olds
R2 = 4 and 5 year olds

@fatedestiny I am talking about nurseries for 0-4, before reception. Not sure if BoJo assumed they would go back with primary or not.

No idea he didn’t mention it.

@Monipop84 It worries me, too

What concerns me is that, this time, they are all going to be settling in at the same time and they've been used to staying at home with their parents for the last month and a half.
It's going to be very hard for everyone, especially as we can't allow parents onto the premises.

Reception is 4-5 year olds.

DfE day childcare settings

@teaandjammydodger they might prioritise certain age groups over others? Who knows. We will find out tomorrow hopefully....

I so want just SOME childcare for my youngest, I'm so tempted to use the 1 key worker parent clause if some schools go back..

annsmiley me too. Trying to wfh in any real productive way is impossible with a preschooler. I had a place as I’m technically a key worker but kept her at home because it seemed like the right thing.

She normally attends school pre school 15 hours/week and I use a private nursery provider who rents space on site to do the remainder 15 hours and a bit of wrap around. I’d be happy with just a couple of days a week right now, even just the school based preschool hours. I could be SO productive with just a few extra hours each week. I'm considering taking the keyworker place and sending her in for a couple of sessions from 1 June if there’s no movement on early years - but I think there will be.

That's good to hear someone else is thinking that. I can manage working around my older child and doing some home schooling but yes, even just a couple of short days for the youngest would make the world of difference to everyone's sanity here.

Same, I have 2 older children who are comparatively easy. I will never ever underestimate the role of early years practitioners ever again. They’ll get an amazing Christmas present this year

My sons nursery have released a statememt to say they will look after kids whose parents need to go out for work. Not sure if that include wfh parents? Guessing also pre emptying official guidelines. But interesting they have made that statement so soon

The guardian link up thread has changed their wording, it did say schools and nurseries but now only says schools.