Every year, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity asks people across the UK to get baking to raise money for the charity. Fundraising is vital to children like Maia (above), supporting life-changing research and care that makes a difference to each of the 618 children that arrive at the hospital every day. In this blog, […]

Alliance quality and standards manager Melanie Pilcher explains why vaccines are so important for young children. This article originally appeared in our Under 5 magazine. “One of the greatest breakthroughs in modern medicine” – that’s how the NHS Choices website describes vaccination. The practice has brought an end to incurable diseases including smallpox, which was […]

In 2018 we launched the Alliance’s Outstanding Member Awards. The response was overwhelming and attracted an incredible calibre of nominations. As a result, the judging panel felt it necessary to create a new Special Commendation award category. In this way, some nominees could be formally recognised for their dedication and outstanding contribution to early years practice. Neil Leitch, chief executive of the […]

Physical development is one of the three prime areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), alongside communication and language and personal, social and emotional development. These three areas have equal status, are interdependent and together form the very heart of all learning and development. In this free extract from Alliance publication, Moving Right […]

By Rachel Lawler With the government releasing a list of employers caught paying their staff less than the minimum wage, we’ve had a look at the current rules to help you ensure that your setting is compliant with the rules. What is the new National Living Wage? The National Minimum Wage […]

This is a sponsored guest blog from our friends at Kompan Schools, sharing their top tips when planning a new or updated outside play area for your setting. Creating an outdoor play area is a considerable investment, so careful consideration needs to be taken before you embark on such a project. 1) Trust […]

Summer is here and the weather’s hotting up, so now is the perfect time to share some tips and inspiration for making the most of water play in your setting during the lovely warmer weather. In this guest post, Mary Horn, founder and director of Curious Fox Company, shares her suggestions on keeping water play activities […]

Rebecca Reilly-Cooper, senior policy officer at the Information Commissioner’s Office, clears up some common data protection myths in this piece, which originally featured in the Alliance’s membership magazine Under 5. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is responsible for regulating, advising and providing guidance on the new enhanced data protection laws, the General Data […]

This article originally appeared in the June issue of Under 5. These are good times to be working in the early years sector. The quality of provision is very high. The most recent Ofsted statistics show that more than nine out of 10 nurseries, childminders and others on the early years register were judged good […]

By Rose Luckin, Professor of Learner Centred Design and Director, EDUCATE London If technology has not made it into your pre-school setting yet, then it soon will. It’s not just about the whiteboard and the lone computer in the corner of the room. In the future, all children will be learning with hand-held devices, loaded […]

Ali McClure is a respected, experienced early years consultant who specialises on development in boys, learning and behaviour. Her unique workshops, delivered over the past two decades, support practitioners to improve outcomes for boys. We’re delighted that she will be running a practical session at the Alliance’s annual conference on the 1st June, titled Making it better […]

Childcare Expo Manchester is once again set to take over EventCity this June. If there is one show guaranteed to give you inspiration, this is it. Running over two days, 15 – 16 June, the third northern event promises a bumper agenda with a full exhibitor line-up, as well as a range of interesting […]