Small childcare providers are struggling to make ends meet, with some considering closing their doors for good, due to a shortfall in government funding for the 30 hours free childcare scheme in England, a report has...
Health visitor role extended as part of £45m initiative
Children and parents will be seen by health visitors at least eight times before their fourth birthday as part of an early intervention initiative designed to improve outcomes for children. The current statutory...
Government unveils controversial plans for testing four-year-olds
Plans to roll out the testing of four-year-olds in their first weeks at school have been unveiled by the government in the face of widespread hostility from many teachers who have vowed to oppose the new assessments...
Shock figures show how the cost of childcare has soared – while wages lag behind
The cost of childcare has soared by up to 47% since 2010, shock figures compiled by Labour reveal. Analysis shows nursery care now costs £121 a week for a two-year-old in England – up from £82 eight years ago. Yet...
As many as 1,000 children’s centres now closed, study finds
Around 1,000 children’s centres have closed since 2009, twice as many as officially acknowledged, an education charity has claimed. The Sutton Trust said that official government figures, which show a 14 per cent...
Early years sector ‘increasingly relying on volunteers’
Early years providers are increasingly relying on unpaid volunteers, an analysis of the childcare workforce by the Education Policy Institute has concluded. Concerns have been raised about a reliance on volunteer staff...
