The Nursery World Business Summit last week certainly brought to the fore the huge challenges facing the early years sector at the moment.
Many delegates will have had a wry smile to themselves when childcare and education minister Sam Gyimah proclaimed that this is ‘a golden age for childcare’.
The question mark over the funding rate for the 30 hours offer for working parents of three- and four-year-olds loomed throughout the day, and Mr Gyimah faced some insistent responses from providers.
But this issue cannot be seen in isolation from other pressing matters, coming together in what was described as ‘a perfect storm’. It was evident that the recruitment crisis, caused at least in part by the new GCSE workforce requirements, is a major problem for nurseries at the moment.
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