The House of Lords has voted in favour of an amendment to the Childcare Bill that requires government to carry out a comprehensive funding review before rolling out the 30-hour childcare pledge. Peers voted 222 – 209 in favour of the amendment during today’s House of Lords debate on the Bill. The amendment states that […]

More five-year-olds than ever are achieving the expected standards in maths and literacy, according to new figures published today (13 October) by the Department for Education (DfE). The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Profile results for 2014-15 show that more than two-thirds (66.3%) of children in this age group are achieving a good level of […]

The 30-hour entitlement will be available to more than 5,000 children as part of the scheme’s pilot, Nicky Morgan has announced. The education secretary confirmed that 70 local authorities have opted to take part in piloting the scheme from September next year. Visiting the Harris Primary Academy Philip Lane in Tottenham, she said: “We are […]

Parents will have the right to request out-of-school care under new plans proposed by David Cameron. The proposals will see primary schools, academies and free schools offering breakfast, after-school and holiday club provision at the request of parents. While schools will not be under obligation to offer wraparound care, they would be required to give […]

A ‘lack of clarity’ is indicated by responses to the government’s call for evidence on the cost of providing childcare, according to an analysis published by the Department for Education (DfE) published on Friday (2 October). The consultation, which was launched in June and closed in August, invited information from the sector regarding the cost of delivering […]

Concerns that the government will ‘significantly underfund’ the 30 hours free entitlement scheme have been highlighted by new research. The report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), states that this could result in ‘a poorly-delivered policy with negative outcomes for families and for the sustainability of the sector’. The two key concerns outlined […]

A new campaign launched by the Family and Childcare Trust is calling for the reallocation of funding to make childcare more flexible. Investing in Flexible Childcare urges the government to use the £535 million savings from the delay to the roll-out of the tax-free childcare scheme towards a capital spending programme to bring more flexibility to […]

France’s childcare system provided a source of inspiration for Sam Gyimah during a recent visit to Paris. The education and childcare minister spent two days in the capital, where he exchanged ideas with his French counterpart around expanding high-quality childcare. He met with practitioners and visited a number of providers to see how childcare could be […]

A number of early years experts, academics and organisations have expressed their support for the Pre-school Learning Alliance’s Early Years Agenda manifesto. Pacey, TACTYC and early years experts David Whitebread and Penny Tassoni are among a number of high-profile sector representatives to formally endorse the manifesto, which outlines the organisation’s key calls to government on the areas […]

Pat Glass has been appointed shadow childcare minister, the Labour party has announced. The move comes after new leader Jeremy Corbyn appointed Lucy Powell, former shadow childcare and children’s minister, as shadow education secretary. Ms Glass was first elected to parliament in 2010, having previously worked for 25 years in senior education posts. As shadow […]

The Department for Education will launch an open consultation about children’s centres, childcare minister Sam Gyimah has announced. In an open letter, Mr Gyimah wrote: “This will be a consultation that will offer parents, carers, local authorities and key stakeholders the opportunity to influence and drive what we expect from children’s centre services and where […]

Summer-born children will be given the right to start in reception at the age of five, the government has announced. Schools minister Nick Gibb said admissions rules must be changed so that children born between 1 April and 31 August cannot be forced to go straight into year one if they wait to start school until […]