Councils should reward maintained nurseries for good work

The British Association for Early Childhood Education (Early Education) report, Nursery Schools Now, was based on responses from 361 nursery schools in the UK. It showed that many authorities rely on nursery schools as "beacons of good practice" for other early years providers to learn from.

Early Education chief executive Megan Pacey said: "At the moment a lot of local authorities use nursery schools to offer advice, guidance and training, with no value attached to the work. We're suggesting the value of that work is recognised and, if appropriate, is recompensed."

"If consultants were brought in to do the same work then local authorities would soon realise the value of maintained nursery schools," she added.

The report also highlights the fact that the number of maintained nursery schools has dropped from 520 to 437 in the past 10 years, despite the building of close relationships with children's centres and highly qualified staff.

Early Education has urged local authorities to place nursery schools at the heart of any strategic planning and form service level agreements with nursery schools to deliver training.

The report also recommends that the wide range of services available in nursery schools is appropriately reflected in the new Single Funding Formula, due to be in place next year.