Teaching unions call for baseline assessment to be scrapped in new report
Two leading teaching unions have called on the government to abandon the reception baseline assessment, after a survey of more than 1000 teaching professionals revealed mass oppositions to the plans. A survey of reception teachers and EYFS leaders from across the country, carried out by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of […]
PM pushes for alternative to prison babies
Prime minister David Cameron is pushing for change for babies born to mothers in jail. New research has revealed that 100 babies spent time behind bars last year, and Cameron plans to rethink how pregnant women’s offences are treated, as well as how their babies are cared for. “It is absolutely terrible to think that some […]
Minimal wage increase makes good nurseries outstanding
Research from the Family and Childcare Trust has found that a pay increase of just £1 an hour can make the difference between a childcare setting with a ‘Good’ Ofsted rating and that with an ‘Outstanding’. The study ‘In for a pound’ observed the hourly pay rates in 900 job advertisements for nursery staff across […]
Eight councils chosen to trial 30 hours childcare scheme early
Eight councils in England will receive £13m to launch the 30 hours free childcare scheme a year ahead of schedule, the Department for Education has announced. The government has confirmed that Wigan, Staffordshire, Swindon, Portsmouth, Northumberland, York, Newham and Hertfordshire will roll out the offer, which will entitle eligible working parents of three to four-year […]
New report highlights the need for better standards of childcare
High-quality childcare plays a critical role in mitigating the effects of poverty on children, a new report published by the Family Childcare Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation argues. Entitled Creating an anti-poverty childcare system, the report states that children often do not have access to childcare of the standard needed to improve developmental outcomes and calls […]
30 hours scheme could ‘nationalise’ childcare, says thinktank
Government plans to extend the three- and four-year-old free entitlement for working families could help to “nationalise childcare”, a thinktank has claimed. Time to Care, a report on the Childcare Bill published by Policy Exchange, suggests that the impending free entitlement extension to 30 hours “would effectively make government the monopoly buyer and funder of […]
Thousands of single parents excluded from 30 hours childcare, claims charity
Up to 20,000 single parents could miss out on the extended free entitlement offer due to a change in eligibility criteria, according to the charity for single parent families, Gingerbread. In November, the government announced that parents would need to earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the national minimum or […]
Government slashes spending on early intervention
Government funding for early help services will be cut by 71% between 2010 and 2020, the National Children’s Bureau reveals this morning. A report titled Losing in the long run, compiled by Action for Children, National Children’s Bureau and The Children’s Society, has claimed that funding will be reduced from more than £3.2 billion to […]
Childcare prices rise in line with inflation for first time in eight years
For the first time in eight years, average childcare prices have risen only in line with inflation throughout England, the Family and Childcare Trust’s Childcare Survey 2016 has revealed. The price of sending a child under two to nursery part-time (25 hours) has increased by 1.1% since 2015, and now stands at £6,072 per year, […]