Nursery World - Coronavirus: Group of major providers calls for delayed school start for young children

The Covid-19 response group, formed by more than 70 childcare groups and the sector membership organisations, has called on the Government to allow children to delay starting Reception until January or April 2021 and to stay at their early years settings instead.

In an open letter to Government, local authorities and others, the group outlines how it feels the sector is best-placed to support Government and the economy by setting out how childcare provision can be safely and effectively reopened.

The group includes Childbase, Co-operative Childcare, All About Children, and Kids Planet. The newly-released letter and guidance was led by Sarah Mackenzie of N Family Club, Sarah Steel of Old Station Nursery and Andrew Clifford of CC Nurseries.

It argues that the Government should reinforce the existing mandatory school starting age of five for this cohort of children and that early years settings are ideally placed to support this move.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included