The London School of Economics and the University of Oxford have today released a report claiming that children that spend more time in early years provision have better social and everyday skills. The report ‘The development and happiness of very young children’ by Professor Paul Anand of LSE and Dr. Laurence Roope of the […]
A study from Ofcom has found that under-fives are spending more than four hours a day in front of a screen, and that, overall, children are spending more time online than watching television. The report found that three- and four-year-olds are spending an average of eight hours and 18 minutes per week online – […]
The Social Mobility Commission has today released its State of the Nation 2016 report which has called on the government to double the early years pupil premium (EYPP). The report also said that the government should introduce a new parental support package at key points in a child’s life to stop from children falling […]
The latest early years dataset from Ofsted has shown an increase in the proportion of providers achieving ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ ratings from 86% to 91%, as at 31 August this year. Neil Leitch, chief executive at the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said that it was positive and impressive to see this increase. “In light […]
Neil Leitch, chief executive at the Pre-school Learning Alliance, has criticised today’s Good Morning Britain report titled, ‘Are nurseries safe?’ The report investigated the overall safety of early years settings following the closure of an Ofsted-rated ‘good’ setting in which an undercover reporter found unsafe practices. Gill Jones, deputy director of early education […]
The Alliance has called on the Department for Education to publish externally-commissioned research from Deloitte – used in the ‘Review of childcare costs: the analytical report’ in November 2015 – following a ruling from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The Alliance requested a copy of the Deloitte research in January 2016, and was told […]
‘The cost and funding of early education’ report – part of the DfE’s Study of Early Education and Development (SEED) project – is still awaiting publication. The report was commissioned to economic consultancy Frontier Economic, and returned to the DfE in July this year. “We are at a loss as to why, at a […]
The government has concluded its consultation into the 30-hours scheme and, having considered the responses, has said it will extend the hours over which the funded hours can be delivered, to between 6am and 8pm (increased from between 7am and 7pm). Further action points include limiting the number of sites on which children can […]
Caroline Dinenage, early years minister, has today announced that the DfE has launched a consultation on the literacy and numeracy skills needed by early years staff. The consultation is design to support the development of early years staff, as well as gather views on how to ensure that a skilled workforce is in place […]
Early years minister Caroline Dinenage has revealed that the DfE will publish an evaluation of the 30-hours pilot scheme next summer. In a response to a parliamentary question on 2nd November, Caroline confirmed that a formal evaluation report would be published in July 2017. “The evaluation is focusing on generating learning that can […]
Save the Children has today released a report which found that children attending a high quality nursery with an early years teacher are almost 10% more likely to reach the expected level of development at age five. The report, ‘Untapped Potential’, follows STC’s earlier study in July this year which claimed that boys are […]
Old Co-operative Day Nursery in Gotham, Nottinghamshire, has won a court case against governing body Ofsted for the downgrading of its setting from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’. In what is thought to be the first judicial review win by an early years setting, a high court judge has ruled that the downgrading was unlawful, and […]
