Nursery Schools Now: Maintained Nursery Schools in England and their role in supporting the evolution of early childhood services.

It is widely recognised that maintained nursery schools have a central role to play in the evolution of high- quality, integrated children’s services in England. There is a consistent and growing body of evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of nursery school provision and good outcomes for children. Ofsted reports conclude that maintained nursery schools are highly effective settings.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) supported Early Education with a grant to investigate the current position of local authority maintained nursery schools and how they are presently deployed in their local authority.

The project set out to describe the role of nursery schools in the development of effective practice in early childhood education and care; the influence that they already have on the professional development of nursery practitioners and how this might be extended in the interests of all children and families and the wider Children’s Services Agenda.

This report seeks to identify how nursery schools could do more to promote their successful practice and be part of effective local and national strategies, to improve outcomes throughout all early years services.

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