With a new school year about to start, now is a time when a major scramble is about to start for pre-school care places. While school age children will have their places set up and be about to try on their new uniforms, the situation for younger children can be a bit more precarious.
That is why you should be quick to contact us if you are looking for a nursery in the FY3 postcode area. Our location is ideally suited for working parents who are employed in or near the heart of Blackpool, as well as being easily accessible from other districts due to our proximity to the A583.
A scramble for nursery places is nothing new, of course. It is a problem that was recently acknowledged by the government as it battles to meet targets set by its predecessor.
In an announcement that hundreds of thousands of parents would be able to take up 15 hours of free childcare for those aged between nine months and three years from Monday 2nd September, the Department for Education acknowledged that the new government’s aim to expand this to 30 hours from September 2025 will be a “substantial” challenge to deliver.
It said that to meet promises made to parents would require “an unprecedented rate of growth in childcare places and staff“- and that, consequently, “this may mean some parents are not able to access their first-choice provider next year.”
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said that early years education is her “number one priority”, but admitted achieving the government’s aims “will not be plain sailing”.
It is not just meeting next year’s targets for childcare that could be challenging. Earlier this year, a survey by the Local Government Association found that around a quarter of the local councils polled – 38 out of 153 – did not think they would have enough places to meet this September’s roll-out.
Moreover, only 36 per cent said they were confident of meeting the 2025 target of 30 hours, with 40 per cent not very confident and ten per cent not at all confident. A key problem was recruitment, with 92 per cent having concerns about having sufficient staff.