Nursery V Nursery attached to Primary School

[MotherofKitties]

Hi all,

Hoping for some insight.

Our nursery has closed to all but critical workers kids on the basis that the nursery is attached to the primary school. The primary school is separate to the nursery, so the kids from the school don't come into contact with the nursery children. When I asked why given the PM address stated nurseries would remain open I was advised the following:

"there is contradiction in the guidance from the DfE as the Government are saying that nurseries are to stay open but schools should only be open for children in Reception to Year 6 which does not include nurseries attached to a school so they must mean private nurseries can stay open. We are currently seeking clarification on this. Should circumstances change, parents will be made aware as soon as possible."

Ive searched the .gov website and there is no mention or differentiation (that I can find of) between a nursery attached to a school and a private nursery. Google has failed me too; is anyone experiencing similar? Or can clarify whether nurseries attached to primary schools should be/shouldn't be open?

Any advice would be welcome.

I think the guidance is that nurseries are allowed to be open, while schools are not (except to key workers and vulnerable children). They aren't required to be open. I would imagine if they feel they need to close, they can and that is in keeping with the guidance. Our (private) nursery is open, but they could close if they chose to.

Thanks for replying @mindutopia

I've heard of plenty of private nurseries staying open but I'm getting the impression that our nursery is choosing/hoping to stay closed, and from their response they're not even sure themselves whether they can or not but are staying closed unless they are categorically told they should stay open...

I just really want a definite yes/no answer ASAP so I can tell my LO what's happening and plan for the next 7+ weeks...!

In the guidance for contingency framework areas e.g. London, it stated that nurseries attached to schools could be in line with the rest of the school. Our school nursery is KW and vulnerable only.

@Useruseruserusee Thanks for responding. Interesting. Didn't know that nurseries attached to schools would be considered one and the same...

Just one of the many ways the government is inconsistent I suppose 🤷‍♀️

However our nursery is very much a part of the school itself - it’s a classroom within the main building and has no separate facilities.

Our council emailed us this

“School nurseries are/will be open spring term 2021 for all pre-reception class children and parents should be referred to their school. If parents have been to the school and they still have an issue they should write to [email protected] with the details of the school and the issue and this will be discussed with the school. The situation for schools has changed overnight on 4 January 2021 so schools may need some time to adjust but everything should be back to normal in the majority of schools by next week.”

This is unclear/contradictory in government guidance

A number of LAs have written to the DfE requesting urgent clarification about school nurseries.

@YellowOranges That's really interesting to hear, I wonder if the position will change next week...

@UsernameSaved I know and that's the problem, it's so inconsistent! Hoping for a clear, definitive party line in the next couple of days about this!

Our school has an EYFS unit with nursery and reception, slightly separate to the rest of the school. In normal times, they are all mixed in one big class with a number of teachers and early years practitioners, though they've been more separated this year.

Reception is now critical workers / vulnerable children only, but it's still open as usual (well, usual for this year) to the nursery children.

Nurseries attached to schools are public sector surely, they will be staffed by employees of the local council. Nursery teachers will be school staff (eg our nursery teacher moved to teach primary the following year in the same school).

My children's nursery is not attached to a school but it's state funded, not private so is usually open term time only and 9-3. They are currently closed except for key worker and vulnerable children.
They originally said they'd be open but then changed their mind on Sunday afternoon. As quite a few of the staff are qualified teachers, they are part of the teaching unions and decided to follow union advice about not going in to work. That, plus the staff that are isolating, made that they didn't have enough staff to open up to all children.

My child's nursery is attached to the school, and is open to all children if we would like for them to still attend. Around half of the class were in today.
The main school is only keyworkers and vulnerable children

@motherofkitties Hello - same boat here (school nursery is closed), have you had any clarification from your school nursery?!

My nursery is open, but my children’s school nursery is closed.
I’d they close my nursery it will cost the GOV money to keep me open long term.
The school nursery have also had to move staff from the nursery to cover all the isolating and ill staff that are needed for keyworker children

Same here, nursery attached to school. When lockdown was first announced we were told our son needed stay home (we're not key workers). A few days later they had to backtrack and say actually he is allowed to go and they are now open to all pre-school kids (whether key worker parents or not)

Teacher in a school nursery here and we had to reopen to all our children last Monday. We were told by our LA that we would not be funded for the children who were not attending if we did not reopen. Luckily they are finding any children whose families decide to keep them at home otherwise, we would have a severe financial problem. Some authorities aren’t abs I think there is a campaign to address the issue.

Gone through all the guidance with the school on this one. The guidance changed 3 days after lockdown started and now explicitly says that school nurseries should open. If they do not, the Guidance states that the LEA should not provide the funding to the nursery. However, if the teaching staff won’t work then the reality is the school has to taken the financial hit and keep the nursery shut. It’s a mess!

My DGC school nursery is shut which is fantastic during such a formative year.

I teach in a nursery attached to a school and my class is fully open.

My DD has had to bubble with reception despite being just 3 as we are the only KW family in the nursery

To those in the know, can the LEA give the nursery the funding regardless of their latest census data? you know, sort of at their discretion?
Or can they count online learning as 'on roll?'
Our council is very pro nursery closure.

@doubledoodlemummy @herhereherhere - those in the know!

My sons nursery is attached to a primary school and remain open for all children as it was only meant to be schools closing not nursery's.

@user1506328491. I don’t for sure but I think there is some element of LEA discretion. I decided not to push further so didn’t fully explore it. Suggest emailing your county councillor to ask how they are dealing with this if you want to push the school harder to reopen.

Yes there is certainly discretion- the early years education groups on Facebook are full of stories about certain LA’s who are withholding funding and settings are scared of going under. It’s all a big mess. Thankfully, my authority is giving funding for those ‘home schooling.’