The open letter below was sent to Ofsted in November 2023. Download Ofsted’s response We the undersigned are writing to you about the recently published Ofsted document Best start in life part 1: setting the scene. While we welcome Ofsted’s recognition of the vital role of the early years, we are concerned that as a […]
In his Autumn Statement today the Chancellor failed to offer any financial help to an early years sector which is already struggling to stay afloat. While it is good news for the low-paid early years workforce that the minimum wage for those over 23 will rise from £9.50 to £10.42 in April, there is no […]
A coalition of Early Years organisations convened by Kindred2 , including Early Education and providers such as LEYF and Ark Start, has identified a series of practical and affordable options for improved Early Years spending in England. The analysis, by one of the largest economic consultancies in Europe, Frontier Economics, is based on current government […]
Early Education welcomes the announcement by Bridget Philipson MP, the Shadow Education Secretary, that Labour intends for an expansion of the maintained nursery sector to be at the heart of its plans to reform the early childhood education and care sector. According to coverage in the Guardian, Labour’s plan to grow the sector will remove […]
The tenth early years minister in ten years, Kelly Tolhurst, is now in post. It’s good news that early years is part of a Minister of State’s portfolio rather than given to a more junior post. However, the rest of her brief is extensive, leaving a risk that early years is not a priority. We […]
We urge members to respond to the two DfE consultations on funding and ratios which close on 16 September. For information, you can view the text of our draft responses below to inform your own thinking. We welcome any comments from members on these drafts. These should be sent to us by 15 September at […]
We welcome today’s announcement from government that it intends to allocate a further £10m to raise the level of supplementary funding for those maintained nursery schools which currently receive the least – or in some cases none at all. The statement from government says: Also announced today is an additional £10 million investment for Maintained […]
Comparing figures from January 2022 and January 2020, progress is being made towards previous levels of take up of funded early education. Latest figures from the DfE show that 92% of eligible 3- and 4-year-olds took up their entitlement to 15 hours of early education in January 2022, compared to 93% in 2020. However, this […]
Early Education welcomes the news that the new National Plan for Music Education has been extended to cover the early years. We are glad to see that this includes recognition that many early years practitioners are not music specialists and an extension of the role of Music Hubs to include supporting the early years sector. […]
A survey carried out by sector body Early Education in association with education unions the NAHT, NEU and UNISON, has found that more than half of all maintained nursery schools in England had an in-year deficit in 2021-22 and 28% of had a cumulative deficit. Only 4 in ten (41%) had been able to set […]
Early Education
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