Government’s £30m School Nurseries Capital Fund to Open for Bids

The funding is for organisations working closely together and in partnership with a local authority to create more school-based nursery places for disadvantaged children in England.

The Department for Education has established the £30 million School Nurseries Capital Fund (SNCF) to create new high-quality school-based nursery places for 2, 3 and 4 year olds to deliver the Government’s commitment to build more school-based nurseries and to boost social mobility.

Acknowledging that the first few years of a child’s life are critical to shaping their future development, the Government wants to provide equality of opportunity for every child, regardless of background or where they live. Good early years education is seen as the cornerstone of social mobility.

The funding is to be allocated to the most disadvantaged areas in England. This will ensure the most disadvantaged children have access to high-quality school-based nursery provision.

This is open to schools, academies, multi-academy trusts, educational institutions, charities or any other interested organisations working closely with each other and in partnership with their local authorities to develop an application.

Bids will be accepted from primary schools, infant schools, and all-through schools, either with or without existing nursery provision. Schools must currently be in existence and have a proven track record with Ofsted.

Independent schools and maintained nursery schools are not eligible.

There is a particular interest in proposals that include testing and evaluating approaches aimed at closing the disadvantage gap in the early years and boosting social mobility.

When considering which projects to put forward in an application, the school(s), organisation(s), and local authority involved in developing a project should note the following:

As part of their bid, local authorities may submit applications for new build nurseries (including modular/temporary buildings) or extensions, refurbishments or conversions of surplus school capacity, or existing buildings including creating kitchen facilities.
Information and communication technology (ICT) hardware or software, fixtures, fittings and equipment (FF&E), and ICT infrastructure (cabling, wireless and switching) are eligible if they form part of a new build project.

Guidance notes are currently available.

The application window opens on 24 September 2018 and will close on 22 November 2018.

Full details…