Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Nurseries 'to stay open for longer' so children can be left the whole working day

 

Staff
Monday 03 February 2014 21:37 EST
Comments
(Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Schools across Britain will reportedly be encouraged to extend opening hours to allow parents to leave toddlers there for the whole working day, and accept children as young as two.

Liz Truss, the education minister, is writing to every council in England to suggest that school nurseries should extend their opening hours, The Telegraph reports.

Ministers are also expected to float proposals to make it easier for nurseries to open their doors to two-year-olds.

Mrs Truss told The Daily Telegraph: “If you have a really high quality school nursery, children who are behind can catch up with their peers by the time they start school.”

She added: “Many parents would prefer longer days rather than five short bursts during the week. If you’re working part-time, you could have two sessions of seven and a half hours, or three sessions of five hours. It gives much more flexibility.”

The move is the latest attempt by the Government to increase access to child care after a Conservative initiative to allow nannies to look after more children was blocked by the Liberal Democrats. At present, only a relatively small number of school nurseries offer care to children under three.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in