Early years minister Catherine Ashton said the new centres bring the number nationally now to 58 and 'improved the spread across England, particularly in under-represented rural areas'. She gave details of the new centres when she visited the Lawns Nursery Centre at Biggleswade in Bedfordshire.
Head of centre Karen Navesey said, 'We are bordered by areas of significant rural disadvantage, which is sometimes forgotten because of the picturesque image the county has of thatched cottages. We also have a significant population of traveller families. We will be creating an outreach team, consisting of a teacher and a health practitioner who will work closely with a childminding co-ordinator. They will be able to identify education needs and special educational needs at an early stage.' Until recently the Lawns was housed in one of the oldest nursery buildings in the country. It has moved to new premises, but the rapid expansion of facilities for children and families mean a new building is vitally needed. 'We can only offer 12 full-time places for children aged between two-and-a-half and three-and-a-half,' said Ms Navesey.
Other centres designated early excellence status, either in or fringed by rural areas, are at Camborne in Cornwall, Taunton in Somerset, and Great Torrington in Devon, where the Bluecoat Infant and Nursery School is at the heart of communities hard hit by unemployment and last year's foot and mouth epidemic.
The lack of childcare in rural areas was highlighted in a report in 1997 by the then Rural Development Commission, now the Countryside Agency. It found that 93 per cent of rural parishes did not have a public nursery and 85 per cent no private one.
Jean Scott of the Countryside Agency said, 'We welcome the DfES initiative and its recognition that such facilities are under-represented in rural areas. Many of these centres are in small market towns and serve a rural hinterland, helping to get outreach services to places which were isolated before.' The latest batch of early excellence centres also includes urban areas such as Wigan and Bury in Lancashire, where the only council-run nursery was selected.
Headteacher of Bury's Hoyle Nursery School, Clare Barker, said the additional funding would help extend the premises and operating hours. The centre has a strong tradition of early intervention in helping children with special educational needs, particularly those with autism.
The Government is committed to establishing 100 early excellence centres by 2004.