Last week's Nursery World reported on the Capacity research for the National Day Nurseries Association which said that extended schools were 'probably the key factor in creating nervousness among private sector providers' (16 June, page 4). This week, we report from the Pre-school Learning Alliance conference (page 4), where delegates were very vocal in expressing their fears that schools would be catering for all the three- and four-year-olds, making it impossible for pre-schools to be sustainable and 'institutionalising' children.
The playwork lobby has weighed in with predictions that extended schools will act as warehouses staffed by people without the right training (News, page 8). Meanwhile, 4Children has warned that funding is not sufficient, school heads are facing the prospect of some very challenging changes, and local authorities are going to have to pull it all together.
The key to success is partnership between local authorities and the private and voluntary sectors - but we are also hearing that in some areas of the UK this seems a distant prospect.