Sentence examples for maintained nurseries from inspiring English sources

Iram Siraj, a professor at the Institute of Education and former ministerial adviser, said closing maintained nurseries was "the biggest act of vandalism against quality in early years".

But under the Tories, early intervention services like youth and children's centres have seen their funding cut by 31% between 2010 and 2016, while one in 10 maintained nurseries – relied on primarily by children from deprived backgrounds – and a third of Sure Start children's centres closed their doors.

He said: "There are 49 local authorities with no maintained nurseries, and 43 with only one or two.

The Department for Education says local authorities have been given around £60m a year to protect maintained nurseries up to 2020.

The city council says the government has failed to commit to supporting the maintained nurseries beyond 2020 – creating uncertainty for staff and families, and making planning difficult.

The government also says that although there has been a decline in the number of state or maintained nurseries, the number of children attending them hasn't fallen as many now have larger pupil rolls.

Another key element is maintained nursery schools, overseen by councils.

"The long-term survival of maintained nursery schools still hangs by a thread," it reads.

"The fact remains that, even with the supplementary funding, most maintained nursery schools have had to make large cuts and make hard decisions to balance reduced budgets.

The 251 signatories to the letter will ask the chancellor to safeguard the future of maintained nursery schools in the forthcoming spending review.

Homerton centre, which is a maintained nursery school as well as a centre for the youngest children and their families, is hidden behind a residential street in the south of Cambridge.