The DfE have announced this morning that NFER have 'won' the bid to provide the baseline assement for Reception children beginning in Autumn 2020. It seems from the various news pieces available that the other other two potential bidders Ea…
An important point on the BBC today: "Two in three councils providing nursery services do not employ any men, the Victoria Derbyshire programme has learned. How can diversity in the profession be improved?". David Wright, who wrote this ar…
Ofsted have announced that the SEF document, generally completed online, will cease to be used from 1st April 2018. The SEF, in the current format, was never a statutory requirement, now it won't be available at all. The requirement for all…
Following a survey conducted since the introduction of the 30 hours 'free scheme' the PLA have issued the following headline findings:
Nurseries are making up losses by upping fees for younger children and charging for meals and na…
Yesterday, the Dept of Health and Public Health England, in conjunction with Action for Children, published guidelines for early years settings to support them in the development of their menus for children under 5. The guidelines are volun…
The Government response to the primary assessment consultation was published last week and addressed questions regarding baseline assessment in Reception, the EYFSP and statutory assessments during Key stages 1 and 2. You can read the respons…
The full roll-out 'happened' today with providers and parents waiting to see what the impact will be on them once the 30 hours entitlement kicks in. Both PLA and NDNA have been working hard securing press coverage and explaining how the sche…
Latest research from Prof Kathy Sylva, Prof Pam Sammons and their team at the University of Oxford has used administrative data, a survey of local authorities and a series of case studies to paint a picture of what has happened to children…
Following the recent APPG meeting where Michelle Dyson (DfE) spoke regarding the funding and childcare costs faced by settings, we were asked to provide 'hard' evidence from the sector. We have received from the DfE a template document tha…
Ceeda is a private sector research agency specialising in early years research. They have carried out research into the state of the sector using data gathered from 800 childcare providers including 245 childminders and 555 nurseries and p…
The fund, announced in November 2016, has quietly been scrapped and is now missing from the list of funding options available for Early Years providers. You can read the full story on this thread.
In the recent budget, the Chancellor announced a rise in the level of minimum wage and also the living wage. The early years funding rates have also been announced for 2018/19. You can read the new rates and comment on the thread 'Costing n…
If parents want to continue to receive funding in January they must reconfirm their eligibility this month. They need to log into their government childcare account
On Thursday 12th October early years ministers debated the impact of the newly introduced 30 hours free funding scheme. The debate was called by Ruth George MP and both Robert Goodwill MP and Tracy Brabin MP spoke at length to set out their…
Following the recent furore surrounding the L3 requirements for Maths and English GCSE the workforce review changed the requirements for English and Mathematics qualifications. The Government is now reforming the functional skills qualificati…
The select committee's report has been described in the Financial Times (25/3/18) 'MPs release damning report on childcare policy'. Reading the conclusions and recommendations it is easy to see why the FT went for such a strongly worded he…
Report reveals that childcare prices have surged at double the rate of inflation, undermining Government’s new investments. Following the rollout of new government support schemes in 2017, most parents are now entitled to some help with c…
In The Guardian there is an open letter signed by over 1700 concerned individuals including well-known sector names such as Anna Ephgrave, Neil Leitch, June O'Sullivan and David Whitebread. Together they are expressing their concerns "over…
Pupils in England’s schools are currently taught about relationships, health and the wider world through sex and relationship education (SRE) and personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) lessons. The Government would like t…
At the beginning of the month FSF ran a survey to prepare for the early education and childcare APPG meeting on November 1st. 867 FSF members responded and the headline data is interesting:
The financial impact of the 30 hours scheme…
Ceeda launched the independent ‘About Early Years’ research programme in May 2017 to track key sector trends on a regular basis and provide timely analysis for childcare providers, policy makers and investors. You can read the overview …
One key finding was that the new 30 hours scheme could widen the gap between disadvantaged children and those able to take advantage of the increased funding. The report says "neither the tax-free childcare scheme nor the 30 hour entitlement…
Tulip Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn and former Shadow Early Years Minister, has been confirmed as Chair of the Childcare and Early Education All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). Ms Siddiq is an influential and experienced …
