DfE has issued slightly more detail about the planned uplift in the hourly rates for the current and new entitlements, following the announcements in the recent Budget. A recent ministerial response to a parliamentary question also confirmed that the expected rate for under 2s will be around £11. The DfE’s calculations are predicated on assumptions […]
Today, teachers from the National Education Union are striking, including many working in nursery and reception classes. In the last week, the Department for Education published a report providing further evidence of the importance and impact of high quality teaching in reception. This adds to existing evidence about the crucial role of high quality teaching […]
We welcome the news that our President, Professor Cathy Nutbrown, has been made a Dame in the year’s New Years Honours list. This is much deserved for Cathy’s tireless work advocating for the best interests of young children and championing the vital role of the early years workforce. Cathy’s landmark report into the early years […]
The government’s latest changes to the early years funding formulae bring two key changes which we pointed out in our response to the consultation would spread an already limited amount of funding unevenly across the country. Our analysis of the published 2023-24 allocations shows this to be the case and looks at where the funding […]
DfE have today announced the early years funding settlement for 2023-24, which leaves the early years sector struggling on below inflationary increases. While an additional £10m for the least well-funded maintained nursery schools (MNS) is welcome, and an additional £20m for the Early Years National Funding Formula represents a token acknowledgement of the additional wage […]
Ofsted’s latest annual review highlights the impact of recruitment and retention challenges and finds a link between inspection outcomes and the proportion of graduates in a setting. It recognises the work which settings are doing to address the impact of the pandemic on young children. It found that 96% of providers on the early years […]
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 […]
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. […]
The Times Education Commission has today published a report which calls for “A significant boost to early years funding targeted at the most vulnerable and a unique pupil number from birth, to level the playing field before children get to school.” It also calls for wellbeing to be put at the heart of education and […]
Early Education
2 Victoria Square
St Albans
AL1 3TF
T: 01727 884925
E: office@early-education.org.uk
