Setting wins court ruling against Ofsted
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 […]
Lucy Powell appointed chair of parliamentary group for nursery schools
Former shadow education secretary Lucy Powell has taken on the role of chair at the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Nursery Schools and Nursery Classes. The group was established in February 2016 by Graham Stuart MP (chair), Baroness Tess Blackstone, (vice chair), Mark Pritchard MP (treasurer) and Tom Pursglove MP (secretary). Labour MP, Lucy […]
Latest EYFS Profile statistics show results continuing to improve
The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile results for 2016 have shown that 69.3% of children are now achieving a ‘good level of development’; a 3% increase on last year’s 66.3% Released today, the results also showed that while girls continue to do better than boys, the gender gap has decreased. The gap in the […]
EYFS Profile to remain in place for 2017/18
The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile is to remain in place for 2017/18, education secretary Justine Greening revealed today in a statement to parliament. Neil Leitch, chief executive at the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said that he welcomes the news and hopes it is the first step to the full reinstatement of its statutory status. […]
EY professionals earn less than half wage of educational professionals
New research from the Pre-school Learning Alliance and Nursery World has discovered that the average hourly wage for early years professionals is less than half the median hourly wage of educational professionals. The average wage of qualified teaching and educational professionals sits at £21.97 per hour, but the survey showed that early years professional […]
Tulip Siddiq appointed shadow early years minister
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has appointed Tulip Siddiq as shadow minister for the early years as part of his latest cabinet reshuffle. Tulip is MP for Hampstead and Kilburn and has previously worked as a local councillor at Camden Council with responsibility for community centres and libraries. She has also worked for Amnesty International […]
Education secretary reveals social mobility ‘opportunity areas’
At the Conservative Party Conference earlier this week, Education secretary Justine Greening announced six areas across England as the most challenged in terms of social mobility. Blackpool, Derby, Norwich, Oldham, Scarborough and West Somerset will consequently be the first ‘opportunity areas’ to receive extra government support as part of a £60 million scheme. A further four […]
Letter to nurseries over flu protection for under fives
Professor Dame Sally Davies, the government’s chief medical officer, has written a letter to nurseries, urging them to raise awareness of the childhood flu immunisation programme, Nursery World reports. Influenza is a concern every winter, and young children are well-known ‘super-spreaders’ thanks to the number of different age groups they mix with. If parents […]
Surge in tablet use among toddlers
A quarter of pre-school age children in Britain have their own touch-screen devices, compared to a mere 4% of children in 2012, market research company Childwise has claimed. In its latest report, Childwise also discovered that 42% of children under the age of four use these devices, a 27% increase over the last four […]
Childcare costs to soar if DfE freezes early years funding
The Pre-school Learning Alliance has today warned that if the government goes ahead with plans to freeze early years funding rates until 2019/20, childcare costs are likely to be on the increase. Freedom of information (FOI) requests, filed by the Alliance, have shown that early years funding rates have failed to keep pace with […]
Alliance launches Fair Future Funding campaign
The Pre-school Learning Alliance has today launched its early years funding campaign, Fair Future Funding. The campaign is calling on the government to create a system which monitors childcare delivery costs on a local level and ensures that funding increases to meet these costs when needed. The Alliance has filed a number of […]
Labour to launch early years taskforce
At Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, shadow education secretary Angela Rayner is to lay out plans for an early years taskforce designed to transform early years provision. Angela will highlight that every parent should have the right to quality, affordable childcare, and she will push Labour’s mission to ensure that no child’s life chances […]