Recruitment headache as new nursery opens

Lots for Tots has opened in a former Chinese restaurant

The director of a new nursery in Derbyshire has outlined the challenges facing the sector as it welcomes its first children.

Lots for Tots Childcare Hilton opened this week with more than 30 children joining initially but Beth Wheatley said finding and keeping high-quality staff had proved a challenge.

The opening coincides with the largest-ever expansion of publicly-funded childcare support in England, as thousands of working parents receive more help with their nursery costs.

"I recruited during Covid times for NHS 111 and thought that was tricky - this is a whole new ball game," Ms Wheatley said.

The nursery has welcomed its first children this week

The former Chinese restaurant in Egginton Road has undergone a transformation to be able to host up to 81 children - which Ms Wheatley expects to happen by early in the new year.

Eligible parents are now able to access 30 hours of childcare per week during term-time, paid for by the government, for children aged nine months to four years.

And while the extra help for parents is welcomed by those working in the sector, there remain a number of issues putting strain on those running nurseries.

Ms Wheatley said: "At the moment, I've got 15 staff on various part-time and full-time rotas. We need to grow as the children grow so I'd ideally like 18 full-time equivalents based on the children we've got coming in in January.

"As a sector we are massively under-funded. A big misconception is that it's free-funding but it's not free places - there's still all sorts of other costs."

Ms Wheatley says she is still trying to find staff

Research from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) suggests workforce issues could be a key barrier to delivering the promised offer to parents, with low pay and limited progression opportunities a constant challenge for staff.

It is estimated the sector needs 35,000 more staff to deliver the funded hours expansion.

The government says the number of staff delivering funded childcare in nurseries rose to 272,500 this year - up by 18,200 from 2024, which it said was the highest increase on record.

It has been offering a £1,000 incentive for new recruits or for people rejoining the workforce in some areas.

But Ms Wheatley said: "It's a really difficult sector to recruit in. And it's about getting the right people as well. They do such an important job, and it's long hours.

"Apprentices are so good because you can train them, they can get the qualifications and then there are more people in the sector.

"Everyone needs to take on apprentices - but you've got to be able to retain them as well. With all the pressures for settings, that's difficult.

"I'd love to pay the staff more because they're worth it.

"As a mum myself I totally welcome the extra help with funding for parents. Being a parent, looking after their children and going to work - it's really hard and I know people who don't have a lot left each month once they've paid nursery fees.

"So yes it's great they have more help - but it doesn't solve the strain nursery settings are under."