A PRIMARY school in Staple Hill is due to open a nursery as part of a new scheme to provide places in “childcare deserts”.
The Tynings Primary School in Eastleigh Close will open its nursery later this year, offering 23 places per session to pre-school children from local families.
The school is converting a space for the nursery, which is being funded under a government scheme to set up new or expanded school-based nurseries in areas where there is a shortage of places for two to four-year-old children.
Head teacher Lois Haydon said: “We are delighted to be able to offer pre-school children a place in our nursery.
“We hope to be open in September, but definitely by Christmas at the latest.”
The Tynings and Avanti Gardens in Fishponds are among 300 schools across the country included in the first wave of the scheme, which has a target of setting up 3,000 school-based nurseries over the next five years.
From September, working parents will get 30 government-funded hours of childcare a week, from 9 months to school age, and the school nurseries are a key part of delivering the additional places needed.
MP Damien Egan, whose Bristol North East constituency includes both schools, said: “Both areas have got lots of young families but not enough nursery provision.”
The announcement comes alongside the rollout of breakfast clubs in primary schools, with the first 750 schools set to launch at the start of the new term.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said the school nursery places will “get thousands more children school-ready, breaking the link between background and success for families across the country”.
The announcement comes as extra special school places for South Gloucestershire have been approved, funded by an £8 million Department for Education grant.
The New Horizons Special School in Kingswood will be expanded, with an extra 40 to 60 places for children with social, emotional and mental health needs to reduce reliance on expensive special needs places outside of the council’s control.
The expansion, approved by the council’s cabinet on April 14, is expected to cut costs of placing children with external providers by around £2.4m per year.
Council cabinet member for education Ian Boulton said: “The expansion of the New Horizons Learning Centre will provide special educational needs provision within South Gloucestershire, saving the council significant sums of money as a result of reducing the need to commission expensive private school places outside of the county.”