Ministers have urged primary schools without space for a full nursery to consider teaming up with a childminder to provide early years provision on their sites.
The country’s largest childminding agency has said opening such settings in schools can have benefits for staff returning from parental leave, whose children can be prioritised for places.
Under the Department for Education’s school-based nurseries capital grant programme, schools can apply for up to £150,000 to repurpose disused classrooms into nurseries. The funding can also be used to convert space to host a childminder in schools that might not have room or the expertise to run a full nursery.
The news follows a law change last year that means childminders no longer have to work from their home – which experts say schools are unaware of. The publicity around the scheme also focuses on nurseries, rather than the option for childminders.
Schools have until 5pm on December 11 to apply for the second wave of funding and are being reminded they can team up with childminders.
Childminder ‘great option’
Early education minister Olivia Bailey told Schools Week such partnerships “are a great option for schools with limited space who want to take part in the next phase of our school-based nursery rollout, helping to create more high-quality childcare options for families across the country.
“We’ve already made it easier for childminders to work from schools and community spaces, and we’re going further to make sure they get the support they need.”
Government guidance on the second wave of funding states schools “may choose to lease buildings to a private, voluntary, or independent provider, childminder or group of childminders to operate from.
“These partnerships can bring additional benefits such as flexibility to offer nursery provision that better meets demand.”
It states local authorities “will be best placed to help you locate potential partners to take up this offer.
“Childminder agencies may also be able to help establish collaborations.”
One such agency – Tiney, the country’s largest – said there were benefits for school staff too as their own children can attend, making it easier for them to return from parental leave.
Brett Wigdortz, the organisation’s chief executive, said the teaching profession was “full of parents and, like any working parents, they need reliable childcare.
“This childminding model helps schools offer flexible, affordable care, often in the same building as older siblings, easing the return to work for new parents and supporting those already juggling family life.”
He said teachers could be “given priority access, but plenty of local families will benefit, too. As a result, schools become even more embedded into the community from a child’s earliest years and they build a natural pipeline into reception.”
Childminders make up few of nursery expansions
Schools with poorer intakes and top Ofsted grades are being prioritised for funding in the second phase of the nurseries grant.
The Department for Education allocated £37 million last year in capital investment to create 300 new or expanded nurseries on primary school sites in England.
But of those, just 27 are due to work with a private, voluntary or independent childcare provider.
The data also does not break down how many of these are due to be nurseries and how many are childminders.
The second phase will see £45 million allocated to create a further 300 new or expanded nursery classes, which the government said would offer “up to 7,000 more places” from September 2026.
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