Nearly one million boys are underachieving by the time they reach the age of five, according to a study from Save the Children. The study, Gender Gaps at Five: Boys falling behind in the Early Years, claims that last year, 80,000 boys started reception struggling to speak a full sentence or follow basic instructions. […]

Environment and rural affairs secretary Andrea Leadsom has come under fire from leaders across the country after her comments on men in childcare. During an interview with a reporter from The Times, Leadsom implied that male childcarers could be paedophiles. “As an employer we’re not, let’s face it, most of us don’t employ men as […]

Following its 2016 Childcare Survey, The Family and Childcare Trust has called on the government to address what it calls “persistent problems with childcare provision in the UK”. Key findings of the report state that an estimated 41,300 three-year-olds are missing out on their free early education entitlement, and that 59 local authorities do […]

MP for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields, Justine Greening has been appointed education secretary by new Prime Minister Theresa May. Former secretary of state for international development, Justine is allegedly the first education secretary to have attended a comprehensive secondary school; Oakwood Comprehensive School in Rotherham, which has a Good Ofsted rating. Commenting on […]

Ofsted has today called for more to be done to help disadvantaged two-year-olds access funded early education, following reports that last year approximately 80,000 eligible children did not take up their free place at an early years setting. The Ofsted report, Helping disadvantaged young children: how good are local authorities and early years providers?, […]

Labour MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, Angela Rayner has stepped up as shadow education secretary, following the resignations of both Pat Glass and Lucy Powell in the last few weeks. Aged 36, Angela is also taking on the role of equalities spokesperson, reflecting the responsibilities of the government’s secretary of state for education and minister for women and […]

The government is set to review controversial early years qualification rules following widespread concerns its impact on recruitment in the early years, childcare minister Sam Gyimah has announced. Speaking at a sector conference at the end of June, Mr Gyimah confirmed that the review would be delivered alongside the government’s upcoming early years workforce […]

All newly qualified level 2 and 3 early years practitioners will need to hold a Paediatric First Aid certificate in order to be included in ratios, the government has confirmed. The decision came after a consultation into the proposed changes, which found that 84% of respondents agreed with the new requirement. Under the changes, […]

Labour MP Pat Glass has stepped down as shadow education secretary, after only two days in the role. Pat was appointed by Jeremy Corbyn during a surge of resignations by Labour MPs who have lost faith in their leader, which also included shadow childcare minister Jenny Chapman. In a tweet to her followers […]

In its quarterly early years statistics, Ofsted has reported an increase in the number of early years providers rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’; an all-time high for the sector. An Ofsted spokesperson said that 86% of providers now sit in these brackets, and the the country is experiencing a long-term rise in quality. “It matters because there […]

Last week the UK voted to leave the European Union, but the impact of this decision on the early years sector is as yet unclear, said Neil Leitch, Pre-school Learning Alliance chief executive. Given that the UK prime minister has revealed plans to resign, shadow childcare minister Jenny Chapman has stepped down and there […]

Umeå University in Sweden has released a report which associates neighbourhood air pollution with childhood mental health. Researchers at the university compared data on dispensed medicines for a broad range of psychiatric disorders with data on air pollution concentrations in Sweden, and discovered that even a modest increment of air pollution showed a greater […]