But although the Government was touting it as a new idea designed to support working parents in their quest for quality, affordable childcare, Nursery World readers will know that it has been around for at least three years.
The Guardian reported that the Government's plans 'threatened to backfire' as Charles Clarke was 'criticised for proposing a system where children would not have breakfast with their parents and would return home in time for bed'. It ran with the headline, 'Extended schools criticised as "boarding without beds".'
The Sun also jumped on the 'childcare crisis' bandwagon, reporting on the progress made by five mothers who grilled Tony Blair last week over the lack of affordable childcare that was making their lives a misery. The prime minister promised to visit good childcare schemes across the country.
Meanwhile Chinese scientists claimed to have discovered parental tenderness among dinosaurs. They found the skeletons of 34 baby dinosaurs and one adult in a creche-like rock formation, with all the babies in an upright pose, like the adult. They told Nature the scene provides 'compelling evidence for post-hatching care'.
