Nursery World - Take twos - ensuring the right business model

There is plenty to be learned from providers who already have experience in providing funded places for two-year-olds, says James Hempsall

Over the next year, we will see many more families become eligible for funded places. It is highly likely that many children will be from low-income working families. As a consequence, we all need to think about how flexible our provision can be to support parents' employment, and balance this with the sustainability and business functions of our settings.

Many providers are open full days, Monday to Friday all year round, offering part-time places including morning or/and afternoon sessions as well as full-time places. In the early implementation stage, some providers have offered eligible families access to the free entitlement in blocks of three five-hour sessions in a week, allowing parents to choose between 8am to 1pm or 1pm to 6pm sessions each day. For some, this initially seemed a manageable way forward for both the nursery and families.

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