THE FORUM FOR MAINTAINED NURSERY SCHOOLS &
CHILDREN’S CENTRES: NEWS RELEASE

THE BEST SCHOOLS IN BRITAIN ARE CLOSING

The Forum for Maintained Nursery Schools & Children’s Centres was set up in 2001 and administered by The British Association for Early Childhood Education (Early Education). It aimed to expose the extent to which maintained nursery schools were already providing services to support families in their communities and to assist them in extending and developing these services in line with government policy. It also aimed to highlight the distinctive approach to learning and teaching within nursery schools and disseminate their excellent practice, in order both to safeguard the schools and to influence professional practice within the growing childcare sector

However, the closure and amalgamation of maintained nursery schools has continued, and in many local authorities they have been overlooked as the base for extended services. The expansion of the Children Centre programme has been accompanied by a contraction of the number of nursery schools and a corresponding withdrawal of government support for the Forum. DfES funding for the Forum ceases at the end of March. The funding will not be renewed.

If education is driven out of the Children Centre programme then the government’s declared intention to improve the educational attainment and transform the life chances of children who live in poverty will fail. If we continue to close nursery schools we will lose the best model of high quality care and education we have on which to build integrated services which stand some chance of reducing initial inequality.

Because of this, the Forum’s Steering Group is determined that the withdrawal of DfES grant should not mean the end of the Forum. It remains committed to developing effective practice within high quality Children’s Centres. As a national organisation it is uniquely placed to link the practice of the maintained nursery schools and the former early excellence centres with that of the new children’s centres. The membership of the Forum provides a rich resource of expert knowledge and experience in early education and care. Many members successfully run complex integrated centres and have the will and commitment to raise standards for all children.

From April, 2006 the Forum plans to reinvent itself as an Open Forum organising three day conferences a year (one a term) on issues of importance to the development of children’s centres. It is hoped that headteachers of nursery schools and heads of children’s centres will attend.

Next Open Forum

Thursday 1 February 2007
At Early Education training and resource centre
Details to follow