Scarborough nursery named as new stronger practice hub to improve the teaching of children’s early speech, language and numeracy

Last year, the Department for Education (DfE) announced that every region in the country would benefit from a package of support worth up to £180m to improve the teaching of children’s early speech, language and numeracy, along with professional development to build strong leadership skills and improve the understanding of children’s development.

As part of this, the DfE launched a new network of 18 early years stronger practice hubs to support early years practitioners to adopt evidence-based practice improvements, build local networks for sharing effective practice and cultivate system leadership.

The six nurseries that will be lead hub settings have been confirmed, and the one for Yorkshire and Humber will be Childhaven Nursery School in Scarborough.

Children’s Minister, Claire Coutinho, said: “The early years of a child’s life are so important, which is why we’re delivering a transformational package of support to make sure that the youngest children can make the progress they need with the basic building blocks of learning like reading and speaking.

“Our stronger practice hubs are an important part of this, helping nursery staff and other early years workers learn from each other and share best practice.

"I’m thrilled that Childhaven Nursery School has been appointed as a lead setting, so that early year’s practitioners in the Yorkshire and The Humber can benefit from their support.”

The early years stronger practice hubs programme is supported by the Education Endowment Foundation and the National Children’s Bureau.