Now in their third year, the Nursery World Awards are seen as the pre-eminent accolades for the early years sector. They recognise and highlight the best that is being achieved throughout the UK by organisations, teams, individuals, initiatives and equipment providers. They shine a light on the hard work, innovation and dedication of those in early years education and child care, communicating aspects of best practice and helping to raise the profile of the sector.
Early years education and childcare services continue to be at the forefront of change. The new Government is currently reviewing the Early Years Foundation Stage, and early intervention, child poverty and special educational needs are also high on the policy agenda.
In the current difficult financial climate, with high-quality services facing an uncertain future, it is more important than ever that the fantastic work going on in the sector is acknowledged and rewarded, and the Nursery World Awards do just that. In these pages, you can read the inspiring stories of our winners, highly commendeds and finalists - thank you to everybody who took the time to enter.
We are grateful, as ever, for the support of our sponsors, who made these awards possible.
Many thanks too to our eminent panel of judges drawn from across the sector (see pages 3-5) who gave generously of their time, knowledge and skills to carry out their sometimes difficult, but always rewarding task.
