Acute Shortage Of Nursery Teachers In Yorkshire & Humber Claim

    A new report by Save the Children highlights a shortage of trained nursery teachers across Yorkshire and the Humber, leading to calls for the government to invest urgently in the sector.

    The charity warns that more than 1,700 independent nurseries in the region don’t have a qualified nursery teacher, leaving more than 21,000 children at greater risk of falling behind by the time they reach school – and staying behind throughout their lives. While all nurseries have staff who are trained to care for children, not all have a qualified early years teachers among their staff.

    Research commissioned by the charity found that children in independent nurseries without an early years teacher are almost 10% less likely to meet the expected levels of development when they start school compared to children who do have a teacher, leaving them struggling with basic skills like speaking full sentences, using tenses, and following simple instructions. Children who start behind are also more likely to stay behind throughout their school years and beyond into their work lives.

    Gareth Jenkins, Director of UK Poverty at Save the Children said: “It’s incredibly worrying that so many children in England are at risk of falling behind by the time they start school when we know they don’t have to be.”

    “As a country, we need to start recognising that if we want to give every child the best chance in life – no matter what their background – they must have the support they need to learn, grow and develop in the early years of their lives.” 

    Yorkshire and the Humber

    Local authority

    % of children in an independent nursery without an early years teacher

    Kingston Upon Hull, City of

    82

    Rotherham

    67

    Barnsley

    61

    Bradford

    60

    Kirklees

    52

    North Lincolnshire

    50

    York

    50

    Doncaster

    50

    North East Lincolnshire

    49

    North Yorkshire

    49

    East Riding of Yorkshire

    48

    Wakefield

    46

    Leeds

    46

    Sheffield

    35

    Calderdale

    28

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