I’m so pleased that more children in Southampton will get access to affordable childcare closer to home, after the government announced today that more schools in the city will receive funding to offer more nursery places.
Two schools in my constituency have been awarded funding. St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School will use the funding to create a brand-new nursery that will provide more than 40 places for babies and children up to four years-old when it opens next academic year. And Bitterne Park Primary School and Nursery will use the funding to create additional places for babies, which it says will ‘strengthen the breadth and accessibility of provision for families within the community.
Schools in my constituency were among the first to receive funding from this Labour government for new school-based nurseries. I visited one recently and saw for myself how popular it is with parents and carers. Southampton has many fantastic childcare providers who work hard to give local kids a strong start in life, and these new nurseries will make childcare even easier to access, providing the much-needed affordable wraparound care that can make a real difference to working families, and making the school run simpler with fewer drop offs.
Michael Lobo, Headteacher at St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School, told me:
“We are delighted to receive this grant from the DfE as it will enable us to provide much needed nursery places in our local area. Having it as part of our school will be a wonderful way to start supporting and teaching our children from a much earlier age.”
And Gerida Montague, Co-Executive Headteacher at Bitterne Park Primary and Nursery School, told me:
“Early years education is the foundation of all learning. Ensuring our children are nurtured within a professionally excellent setting, exploring the full richness of opportunities our teachers and practitioners provide, gives them the very best start in life. This funding will allow us to expand our already strong provision and enable more children to benefit from a secure and successful beginning. to their learning journey”
The government has today revealed a further 331 schools across the country have been successful in applying for a share of £45 million funding to build or expand nurseries on their site.
The new Best Start nurseries will create over 6,000 more childcare places, on top of the up to 7,000 already being delivered from the first phase of the programme.
The announcement follows a report published last week showing Labour’s childcare reforms have halved costs for eligible working parents since 2024.