Governance

How we are governed

Early Education is a charity registered in England and Scotland and a company limited by guarantee. Its governance is set out in its constitution. The charity’s strategic direction and compliance with its legal obligations are overseen by its Board of Trustees.

Board of trustees

Trustees are appointed for a three-year term and have the option of standing for re-election for one further three year term at the end of their first term of office. Trustees must not serve for more than six consecutive years. Nine places are elected by the membership and six places are filled by co-option based on the skills needed by the organisation.

The Board of Trustees meets four times a year and trustees are responsible for ensuring that the charity is well-managed in line with the organisation’s overall strategic direction and its charitable objectives.

The Board of Trustees also delegates some of its work to the Finance and General Purposes Committee and ad hoc working groups as required.

All Trustees give their time voluntarily and are not remunerated.

Local branches

Local branches are part of the charity, but are run by committees of volunteers.
Guidance on running a local branch are contained in the Branch Officers’ Handbook 

Ethics & Principles

The work of Early Education is guided by a set of principles and a Code of Ethics.

We believe:

  • every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured
  • children learn to be strong and independent from a base of strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships
  • children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.
  • all areas of learning and development are equally important and interconnected.

 

Early Education supports families and early childhood practitioners across all early childhood education settings in order to deliver effective learning and care that is underpinned with a robust understanding of the development of young children.

Early Education believes every child deserves the best possible start in life and support to fulfil their potential. A child’s experience in the early years has a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right, and provides the foundation for children to make the most of their own abilities and talents as they grow up.

Annual General Meeting 2023

Our last AGM took place on Wednesday 15 November 2023.  

The Annual Report & Accounts were presented to the members at an Extraordinary General Meeting on 1 February 2024.

Latest Annual Report