Nursery teacher shortage 'risks children's early education'

Save the Children said that while all nurseries have staff who are trained to care for children, there is a chronic shortage of 10,000 qualified nursery teachers up and down the country.

It warned that as a result of the shortage, more than 250,000 children are at greater risk of falling behind by the time they reach school.

Research commissioned by the charity found that children in independent nurseries without an early years teacher are almost 10 per cent less likely to meet the expected levels of development when they start school compared with children who do have a teacher, which can leave them struggling with basic skills such as speaking full sentences, using tenses, and following simple instructions.

The effect can also continue into the future, the charity warned, with children who start behind more likely to stay behind throughout their school years and beyond into their work lives. 

Gareth Jenkins, director of UK poverty at Save the Children, said: "It's incredibly worrying that so many children in England are at risk of falling behind by the time they start school when we know they don't have to be. 

"As a country, we need to start recognising that if we want to give every child the best chance in life - no matter what their background - they must have the support they need to learn, grow and develop in the early years of their lives."