South Tyneside school wins 'cost of living' funding - parents could save £8,000
Campaign win for Kate Osborne MP as new Best Start nursery comes to Jarrow.
Jarrow kids and parents will have access to potentially game-changing childcare closer to their doorstep after a South Tyneside school won government funding.
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, on Ayr Drive, is set to be handed the cash to open a Best Start school-based nursery, in a move that Jarrow and Gateshead East MP Kate Osborne said could help give youngsters in the area ‘the best start in life’. It was one of 331 schools nationwide to be handed the funding.
The funding could help to save parents up to £8,000 per year, per child.
Kate Osborne on the funding that could change Jarrow lives
About the funding award, Osborne said: “The cost of living for families in Jarrow and Gateshead East is a huge priority of mine, with many children living in poverty.
“I am so pleased that St Mary’s Catholic Primary School will receive funding to open a Best Start school-based nursery in our constituency. This addition to our other investment in breakfast clubs and nurseries is making a huge difference to families in Jarrow and Gateshead East
“I know from the many emails I receive how welcome it is that childcare costs have halved under Labour.
“Today, we’re seeing the benefits of me as your Labour MP working with a Labour government, to back our schools with funding, back our families with support and give children growing up in Jarrow and Gateshead East the best start in life.”
How Jarrow families could save up to £8k per year
In the latest drive to bear down on the cost of living, thousands more parents will save up to £8,000 a year as the government expands childcare to over 300 more schools from September.
The new Best Start nurseries will create over 6,000 more childcare places nationally, on top of the up to 7,000 already being delivered from the first phase of the programme.
The announcement follows a report published last week showing childcare reforms have halved costs for eligible working parents since 2024. New figures published show over a million parents now use government-funded childcare offer - putting up to £8,000 a year back into family budgets. for those with access to 30 hours a week, for 38 weeks a year.