North Yorkshire nursery staff "deserve more respect"
It's as there is an expansion of free childcare from today
North Yorkshire's nurseries are getting ready for next stage of the rollout of free childcare.
From today - eligible parents of those aged nine months and over will get support for 15 hours a week.
Nancy Kotecha owns Osbaldwick Montessori in York and says the Government need to offer better pay to staff - to help keep up with demand.
"There is an issue with staff. I recently had a discussion with one of the parents about how early years practitioners are looked upon and how they are distinguished within the teaching sector because I see our provision as an early years education provision."
"We're not a childcare provider. We educate the children within the nursery and you know, I said to her do how do you think of the earliest practitioners in this setting compared to the primary school teachers at your other child setting? And they're just not reflected in the same".
"If you think about the learning that we are that the children are going through that process zero to five, there's crawling, walking, talking, initial social skills, all those things are absolutely crucial in a child's development."
From September 2025, the Department for Education has committed to funding 30 hours of free childcare for most working parents of children between nine months and school age, in line with commitments made by the former Conservative government.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said early years support is her "number one priority" but the department will need to source 85,000 more childcare places by September 2025 compared with 2023 to expand its free childcare offer.
Concerns have also been raised that if Government-funded hours increase, childcare providers will be forced to increase prices outside those hours, or charge parents for provisions such as food or nappies.
The Government has previously said it will aim to meet childcare targets by utilising disused primary school buildings to build more nurseries.