How do leading representatives of the early education and childcare world rate Labour's efforts - and what else would they like to see done?
Lesley Staggs, early years consultant and first-ever Foundation Stage director
Nationally, it has been a groundbreaking time for the early years. Young children have stopped being 'pre' everything and now enjoy their right to have their own particular needs and interests recognised and met, first in the Foundation Stage, then in Birth To Three Matters and finally in the Early Years Foundation Stage. There was finally a recognition - backed by research that what happened to children in their earliest years made a real difference not just to academic outcomes but also to their social and emotional well-being and their dispositions to learn all the things that are so important for life.
However, I'm sad that despite that recognition there is still a reluctance to invest in the highly trained and motivated workforce we need to make that a reality for all children. Too many young children are still missing out on the appropriate high-quality experiences we know can make such a difference to them - and so ultimately to society as a whole. It continues to be an unacceptable lottery. I'd like to see the next ten years focusing on ensuring that everyone is a winner and really putting into practice the principles that make the EYFS such a great document. But without the investment in training we'll continue to have practitioners who are unable to do that.
Pat Wills, headteacher of Claremont Community Primary School and Centre of Excellence, Blackpool
I would like to be able to flag up the Governments last decade as bringing public attention to the fact that Every Child Matters. The excitement of new opportunities for change in 1997 followed by the Early Excellence Centre programme. Heady times supported by the introduction of the new Foundation Stage which emphasised child-centred learning supported by practitioner observations and extensive training courses to enable them to learn how to scaffold childrens learning and provide a sound framework for future educational growth and development.
The introduction of the Common Assessment Framework to ensure that families are targeted by agencies working in a joined up way. Still early days but looks like it could be a useful step forward.
The Birth to Three Matters brought in some interesting research and courses for those working with the youngest and most vulnerable children including childminders. It helped inspectors to relate to what was being offered in the homes of childminders to that offered in different settings. It certainly gave parents ways of comparing the quality of childcare provision when making choices.
The EPPE research has given some much-needed clarity to the role of graduates and teachers in early years settings. It highlighted the important role that nursery schools have played in offering challenging provision for children over many decades. It also gave proof to the debate emphasising the necessity of well-qualified professionals within all settings, particularly Childrens Centres and Sure Starts. All very positive and commendable so far
But, as always, golden opportunities were lost through ill-thought out initiatives, overload and the necessity of setting ridiculous targets which prove very little.
Sure Start is a case in point billions of pounds and now a concern about quality. Poor Sure Start. The trailblazers werent even given any money for nursery provision. The Neighbourhood Nursery scheme was suddenly dropped into the pot but did not provide any security or sustainability for the most vulnerable families who needed the most support. PCTs saw the additional money as a way of providing health visitors and speech therapists without any financial commitment on their behalf.
The Childrens Centres have been poorly advised, have caused maximum anxiety to head teachers as well as private providers. The funding is non-sustainable and insufficient. Too many buildings are poised to become white elephants when the capital could have been better invested by slowing down the process and growing the community and its needs first.
In the decades to follow, we will still have reason to be grateful, however, for the emphasis upon the Foundation Stage and its access to the outdoor curriculum. Reception children (and their teachers) learning to play all over again. The extended schools agenda has opened up expensive buildings all year round and ensured full community use. There will no turning the clock back on this one. (Money in deprived communities would help as charging rent to impoverished families is not what it is about.)
Foundation Degrees are enabling generations to access higher education. (The ones who really missed out in the Thatcherite era) The NPQICL has provided a strong lead in masters level qualifications for Integrated Centre Leaders. All future head teachers should be expected to have completed it just to have an understanding of the new world that is education in 21st century.
Some brickbats but lots of golden nuggets. Shame politics has to come into it as Britain needs a joined-up commitment to the future of its children.
Julian Grenier, head of Kate Greenaway Nursery School and Childrens Centre, London
Looking back to 1997, the first thing that comes to mind for me is that Britain was a pretty backward country for anyone who had a young child.
Since then, many good things have happened. Where to begin? The massive expansion of places, the development of services to meet the needs of families rather than just giving children a couple of hours a day in nursery, the huge sums of money that have been invested.
Yet I can't help but feel a certain disappointment. I think that the Early Excellence Programme went off the rails and epitomised something that's a problem in education - the increasing tendency for one establishment to get all the money and status, whilst just up the road there's someone else trying to do all the same things with half the money. Or less.
I'm angered by the loss of so many excellent nursery schools. Overall, the sector now seems terribly uneven to me. The best places provide really well for children; the worst fall short of what I'd want. And we could do without initiatives that start up with all the trumpets blowing, only to be closed down a few years later - like the Neighbourhood Nurseries.
Gill Haynes, OBE, consultant and vice-chair of the CWDC and former chief executive of the National Childminding Association
They say a week is a long time in politics. But Im sure that for everyone that was involved in the early years and childcare sector from 1997, ten years passed in a flash. In fact, the pace of change accelerated as each policy strand wove into another, creating the tapestry which became the Every Child Matters agenda.
Looking back, I believe it has been a decade of real progress and Im confident that childrens life chances have been immeasurably improved as a result of the huge investment, not just of money, but of time, energy, enthusiasm and commitment, from everyone involved in the journey.
Its easy to forget just what progress has been made. Weve moved from a situation where senior politicians and civil servants were sceptical about the need for, and the value of, training and qualifications to the current Government commitment to create a world-class workforce, with the resources to back it up.
And although, in my view, regulation around minimum standards for daycare and childminding should be stronger, the debate around smacking and smoking in home-based childcare settings, which provoked so much emotion and debate throughout the sector and so many arguments with ministers has not only been won. It feels almost as if it came from the beginning of the last century rather than the end of it!
So what in particular do I remember and celebrate about those ten years? For childminding, it was a watershed the development of new childminding qualifications, Children Come First networks and the Quality First QA scheme gave childminders the opportunity to show just what a great group of professionals they were and are. Articulate, grounded in practice, strongly attached to common sense, they also ensured that the new National Standards were changed so that they worked in the real world. They also grasped the opportunities offered by the Early Years Partnerships (EYDCPs) to show local authorities just what a broad and inclusive range of services they could offer for children and families whether it was supporting teenage parents, offering family support or working one to one with a child with additional needs.
Partnership working was the key and valuing the contributions of all parts of the sector, not just on paper, but on the ground too. It will take a renewed energy and commitment to keep this partnership working real in the face of new local authority structures and duties. And it will be really important that all the lessons that have been learnt in these ten years of hard work arent lost. The evidence-based research about what works for children and families has been done. It now needs to be put into practice, so that the ambitions of Every Child Matters can be realised in the next ten years.
Steve Alexander, chief executive, Pre-School Learning Alliance
Early years has radically benefited from the labour Government reform. The Government legacy will be the ten-year childcare strategy, universally well received at launch and the first ever dedicated childcare legislation.
In real terms more money has been spent on the early years but midstream in the delivery of the ten-year strategy, key questions are being asked.
Firstly, the much heralded children centre programme has raised questions on its long-term sustainability.
Secondly, we face a number of fundamental workforce changes relating to the lack of equity of conditions for staff across the PVI and maintained sectors that require government attention.
Thirdly, whilst resources have increased, do we have enough investment to deliver the dream of universal childcare to all that want it?
Time will tell on the next test Government will be it commitment to its strategy in the comprehensive spending review. Today however we should remind ourselves that it was the Government that placed early years centre stage priority.
Rosemary Murphy OBE FRSA, former chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association
Labour has certainly acknowledged the importance of early years and is the first Government to support the development of childcare. The 'problem' is, as always, mixing political gain with good sound thinking. The plethora of initiatives has overwhelmed the sector and in some case have been counter productive. The most obvious example is the rapid development of Neighbourhood nurseries, which have now floundered in the wake of Children's Centres. This has wasted Government funds nationally and locally and private investment.
The single problem that stands out for me is the missed opportunity to bring together the funding streams. As long as we fund separately yearly years education and childcare, we will never have a truly integrated service.
I welcome the move to early years practitioner status but again in their haste to get this off the ground they have alienated and confused the very people who they should be attracting. There is still no clear funded route from a Level 3 practitioner to the degree.
Real enthusiasm, bags of energy, lots of money should have given the early years a good start. I am not sure we have laid the best foundations but at least they have given it a good shot.
Wendy Scott, President of TACTYC (Training, Advancement and Co-operation in Teaching Young Children)
All involved with early years and family support had high hopes that the Government elected in 1997 would build on the enlightened provision developed in visionary local authorities, inspired by the early pioneers from a century ago. Sadly, quality has not kept pace with expansion.
Despite EPPE findings that the most effective practice is led by specialist early years teachers, and Ofsted judgements that maintained nursery schools consistently offer the highest standards of educare, many have closed over the past ten years. In 1997 there were 533 maintained nursery schools in England. There are now only 453, and new funding proposals mean more are at risk. The loss of these internationally recognised examples of excellence, which inspire and empower others to raise their aspirations and develop their own practice, is serious. A disastrous levelling down in understanding of and commitment to quality over the past ten years is undermining the welcome increase in provision.
Professor Edward Melhuish, executive director, National Evaluation of Sure Start, Birkbeck, University of London
In 1998 the Chancellor of the Exchequer introduced Sure Start aiming to bring together quality joined-up services for children under four and their parents. Early findings from The National Evaluation of Sure Start indicated that Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) were not having the impact hoped for. Also, evidence from the Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE) project indicated that integrated Childrens Centres were particularly beneficial to childrens development. Margaret Hodge, as the first Minister for Children Young People and Families, decided that this evidence justified changing SSLPs into Childrens Centres.
This was announced in 2005 alongside a move to transfer the new Sure Start Childrens Centres into Local Authority control. This transfer of control from central to local government was inspired to ensure that Sure Start Childrens Centres became embedded within the welfare state by Government statute and would thus be difficult to eradicate by any future Government, but the transfer of control to local authorities has proved unpopular with many Sure Start advocates.
The Children Act (2004) and the Childcare Act (2005) set out a new framework for childrens services, ensuring accountability and partnership at local level. There was a duty placed on health agencies and local authorities to co-operate to improve the well-being of children. These changes meant that from 2006, local authorities became the accountable body for the Childrens Centres, and health agencies were legally obliged to co-operate in providing services within Childrens Centres. The spend on Children's Centres and the associated programmes set aside for 2007-08 is 1.8 billion, which is almost four times the amount spent on equivalent services in 2001-02. Sure Start has thus become a significant part of the Welfare State.
Professor Helen Penn, School of Education, University of East London
In 1997, many of us hoped for a universally accessible and equitable early education and care (ECEC) system that was publicly-funded (with reasonable parental contributions based on household income), and contributed to poverty reduction and social cohesion. It is not so very difficult to achieve - many European countries have child-focused ECEC which also supports working parents.
Instead, despite the rhetoric about partnership and integration, the Government has reinforced the old boundaries between childcare for working parents, nursery education, and targeted welfare programmes for the poor. It has spent relatively little money compared with what was needed to provide an equitable system for all children, and the private sector has swelled sevenfold to fill the gap. The real story of this Government is the expansion of the for-profit sector. Overall, life is not much better or easier for parents with young children than it was ten years ago.
Iram Siraj-Blatchford, Professor of Early Childhood Education, Institute of Education, University of London
There has been tremendous achievement in the early years, from my point of view as an educationalist, I think the biggest landmark has been the development of the Foundation Stage and then the EYFS as a distinct area for education in the early years, it is a very radical, national reform which we all now take for granted.
The biggest disappointment has been the muddled policies on training, lack of targeted and improved teacher training, in spite of the evidence (EPPE/REPEY) that teachers are important to young children's learning (as are other professionals). The commitment to early years as 'childcare' rather than 'early childhood education' contradicts the commitment to improving outcomes and well-being.
Alison Garnham, joint chief executive of the Daycare Trust
The country Labour took over in 1997 was a childcare desert with almost no publicly-funded nursery places, a desperate shortage of high-quality early years care and education.
Today every three- and four-year-old has a right to free nursery education, the first ever Childcare Act is paving the way to high-quality childcare in every local authority, and there has been a massive increase in childcare capacity (90 per cent more private-sector nursery places, 134 per cent more out-of-school and holiday scheme places). But for most families the cost of childcare places is still too high with the average nursery place 6 per cent more expensive in the last year, at 152 per child per week.
Daycare Trust believes that the last ten years have seen great improvements in childcare. But in terms of achieving our goal - universal access to high-quality childcare at a price parents can afford weve still got a long way to go.
Just how far was highlighted by the recent, very disappointing, figures on child poverty up by 200,000 on last year (when housing costs are included), not going steadily down as they need to be if the governments to reach its child poverty target. One in three children, or 3.8 million, in the UK still have their lives blighted by poverty and providing their families with the high-quality childcare they need is key to putting this right.
In saying a big well done to the government on ten years when children and childcare came to the very top of the political agenda, Daycare Trust has the following suggestions for the next Prime Minister:
The Childcare Act gave local authorities a duty to improve the well-being of all under-fives, and to narrow the gap between those with poorer educational outcomes and the rest. This autumns Comprehensive Spending Review needs to match this with a healthy injection of cash for local authorities to spend on childcare and early years provision, with extra help for the poorest families.
The recent Neighbourhood Nurseries Evaluation spells out the value of childcare to the most disadvantaged families. It also showed that quality in childcare was key to childrens happiness and development. Developing the skills of the childcare workforce is an urgent priority.
It is in the poorest areas that the need for high-quality childcare is greatest, but also where it may be most difficult to run a nursery on a sustainable basis. This is an area where public investment is vital but where it can make the most difference.
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association
Labour has made a great deal of investment and progress in childcare over the past ten years. The ten-year strategy, Sure Start, the Early Years Foundation Stage and the Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) are just a few of the ways the Government has made the investment in high-quality childcare and recognised the role it plays in helping children and families achieve better outcomes. Similarly, we have seen strides made in Scotland and Wales with the registration of childcare workers and the Foundation Stage. However, whilst this investment is to be welcomed, the pace of change and rollout of initiatives has not always been consistent in its delivery at a local level and there have been challenges for many private and voluntary nurseries.
NDNA believes we need to see long term, secured funding streams in place. Neighbourhood Nurseries are an example of an initiative where many settings are now struggling to survive now that funding has stopped. This is why we believe a long-term funding stream is needed for childrens centres. In addition, we would also like to see targets for partnership working with the private and voluntary nurseries when developing childrens centres as these settings have the skills to help make new settings sustainable. Similarly, whilst we welcome EYPS and an increased drive for a better-qualified workforce this cannot be achieved whilst keeping childcare affordable without additional direct investment in the sector. However, it should be recognised that a great deal of progress has been made under Labour and we look forward to seeing this continue and advising how continued investment can be made for the benefit of children and families.
Nathan Archer, The Childrens House Consultancy
Government policy over the last decade as changed the landscape of early years provision in ways previously hard to imagine. Unprecedented investment has been coupled with early years finding a place high on the political agenda. In recent years we have seen legislation to underpin reforms and a substantial infrastructure at local level to drive through the reshaping of children's services.
For childcare providers, this has brought many opportunities for development and growth, but not without challenges. Initiatives have been disjointed and not always long term such as the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative. Funding has been, and continues to be, a major issues with demand side funding typified by a cumbersome and flawed tax credit system and an unwieldy approach to the 'free entitlement'
These funding issues invariably impact on sustainability. Some settings I have supported are well aware of the importance of cashflow, but this is impeded by payment structures and systems which take no account of the provider's sustainability. Leadership and management continue to be key to sustainability and I would hope to see a greater emphasis on this in future workforce development funding to equip, particularly young organisations, with the skills to ensure the longevity of their service.
Paul Richards, consultant and founder and former chief executive of Academy Childcare
I think that the attention that has been paid to the issue of childcare by the Government is a good thing, although a number of the resultant decisions and policies have not been as well thought through as they might have been. There is a fine line between caring and interfering.
The principle of increasing accessibility to good quality childcare is a good one, but some of the mechanisms are not as well thought through as they might be- the Neighbourhood Nurseries initiative is a good example of a big idea with major flaws. The investment required and the absence of any long term meaningful funding mechanism meant it was a non starter for many organisations who may have participated.
My biggest concern is the failure of the Government to address the financial losses being suffered by providers in delivering Free Early Years Entitlement. The ban on top-up fees is ridiculous as it fails to recognise what it actually costs to deliver the service, add in the fact that some providers have had to increase fees overall to compensate and the situation goes from bad to worse. Private nurseries are subsidising government policy, and this is inequitable and unsustainable.
Jennie Lindon, child psychologist and early years consultant
Looking back over the last ten years of changes, I am very pleased that early years has become a serious priority, reflected in policy and funding. Valuable and child-friendly guidance, backed up by the detailed findings of the EPPE research project, provide a real chance of creating practice appropriate to early development, including a very welcome focus on getting back outdoors.
I regret that the greater political interest in early childhood is too often skewed by child-unfriendly agendas. A form of educational bullying runs through some definitions of getting ready for school', including the imposition of formal reading methods on young children. My other source of unease is that the economic/employment perspective on childcare, and now extended school care, has made it unacceptable in some quarters to contemplate whether the experience is unwelcome or negative for some children.
Sarah Jackson, Chief Executive of Working Families
The last decade has seen great strides forward on childcare. But now its time for some joined up thinking across departments. Our helpline callers tell us that childcare remains one of the biggest barriers to employment for working parents. The last decade has also seen huge changes to employment patterns with the opening up of more flexible working both for social reasons and to meet the demands of a 24/7 society. But flexible, atypical hours and part time childcare places simply dont exist to meet parents demands. If the government want to meet their targets for child poverty and employment participation, theyve got to do more to make sure that the right childcare is available when parents need it. For those on the margins of making work pay, high childcare costs can be the deciding factor. Wed particularly like to see more emphasis on supporting parents of disabled children. The costs of childcare for a disabled child are much higher, but this isnt recognised in the childcare element of Working Tax credits
Kate Green, chief executive, Child Poverty Action Group
The Government's bold commitment to end child poverty in a generation has so far led to 600,000 fewer children living in poverty and has helped to build consensus around the importance of tackling child poverty. New investment in tax credits, child benefit and greater access to affordable childcare has been crucial to the progress so far, increasing incomes for many of the poorest families through both direct support and more opportunities to work. But after a good start, progress towards the target is now stalled. The Government must urgently renew its efforts, committing the further investment needed to achieve the pledge and lift the 3.8m children still living in poverty above the poverty line.
Janet Moyles, Professor Emeritus
It can only be a good thing that early years education and care now has the kind of profile its deserved for many years. It is indisputable that children are our countrys future and they (and their parents/carers) deserve the best that we can offer them from the earliest age. Have we got it right over the last ten years? Well, in my opinion, some of it! It has to be right to ensure that children have equal access to services and education and care experiences, but do we really need such detailed developmental grids, as contained in the EYFS guidance, to alert us to the fact, for example, that an 11-month-old should get excited about food or respond by gurgling and babbling?
The grids, to me, are one of the most worrying elements to come out of the whole package of measures set in place over the last ten years this system can only put children and practitioners under great stress, something that should be avoided in early years for obvious long-term reasons. We all know that every young child is different and expresses her/his needs and frustrations differently so why the straightjacketing? Whilst the emphasis on observation is to be applauded and welcomed, here is clear example of distorting and undermining an otherwise excellent move.
Early years recognition has also generated many other challenges, not least the fact that the government, whilst trying to serve the needs of the early years sector, has on more than one occasion over-ridden in-depth knowledge and expertise, such as in the case of its insistence on synthetic phonics teaching. Also there is a real issue in one department within the civil service knowing whats happening within another legislation and policy statements abound but they are often contradictory and confusing for those trying to implement early childhood services. For example, we learned much from the evaluation of Early Excellence Centres but where has this information gone in relation to Childrens Centres or Neighbourhood Nurseries? Why is it necessary to change constantly even names/titles, never mind the conceptual basis of many of the ideas? It would seem to me that we need to stop for a while and analyse and evaluate where we are now, what weve so far learned and where we want to go in the future. And these decisions should involve people at every level in the sector who have experience and evidence of how it works (or doesnt) from which we can all learn.
Unfortunately, so much of what the Government has written in legislation and policy documents is just so much rhetoric and that applies to Every Child Matters and similar legislation. Until we sort out the downright shameful reality of child poverty in this country (the worst across developed countries in the world, we are led to believe) the words are meaningless.
The on-going EPPE project has certainly ensured continued useful evidence-based information about quality issues in relation to early childhood education and practitioner training and research such as SPEEL (Study of Pedagogical Effectiveness in Early Learning (Moyles et al 2002) and REPEY (Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (Siraj-Blatchford et al 2002) have clearly highlighted the kinds of experiences required both by adults and children for early years education to be of the highest level for our most vulnerable yet vital citizens. But why do we have to have an Early Years Practitioner Status award as well as an early years qualified teacher award? By separating out qualified teachers and others, we are likely to lose the best of our current system which is that all teachers are qualified to degree status and have the capability to teach across different age groups. What of an EYP who decides that theyd like to see how children progress in infant education? We should be keeping the system as flexible as possible and not restricting e.y. trained personnel or demeaning their undoubted skills and talents.
Tina Bruce, Visiting Honorary Professor, Roehampton University
Early childhood and family issues have never been higher on the political agenda than in the last decade in England. This has led to rapid changes with far-reaching consequences, some intended and some not. Only those with navigational tools can find their way through in both spirit and practical impact on families and children. This requires a highly educated, mature and appropriately trained workforce whose different emphases and expertises coalesce and bring together their strengths in integrated ways.
Integrated working that is securely embedded is a crucial challenge in moving forward, reaching beyond partnerships which remain separate and alongside each other, such that they benefit children and their families with sustained consistency. Victoria Climbie's short life needs to remain in our hearts and minds. Integrated Childrens Centres and integrated maintained nursery schools will make a major contribution in this, providing they are adequately funded and heads are empowered to exert the leadership of integrated teams research shows they can achieve, and which is a crucial success factor.
Kathy Goouch, senior lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University
It is so disappointing that, despite uncertainties in research findings (Rose 2006:5), this review insists on two unsupported ideas for teaching young children to read: that there should be systematic programmes of work on phonics for children by the age of five and that this should be a synthetic phonics programme.
It is widely accepted, and acknowledged by the new Early Years Foundation Stage, that children are unique, develop and learn in different ways and at different ages and that teaching, therefore should be tailored to meet individual needs (EYFS 2007). Although we know that babies and children learn a phenomenal amount from birth to three (and prenatal), and also learn how to learn, this knowledge and understanding has not been systematically taught but learned when it is necessary, interesting and culturally significant for them to do so. However, in response to the fact that 15 per cent of children in England do not reach a pre-determined target, formally assessed at the end of Key Stage One, all children in England are now subject to the findings of this independent review.
Whether or not young children need any systematic literacy programmes is disputable; whether such a programme should be tied to one method thankfully continues to be challenged by a range of individuals and associations; but the early age at which such formal instruction is intended is still very worrying.
Perhaps policy makers should look, not to the US, but to Nordic and Scandinavian countries where children who are four and five are robustly supported in playing in fields and forests as well as urban landscapes rather than being coerced into instructive play contexts like their English peers. Their reading standards appear not to be detrimentally effected by having happy childhoods.
Cllr Quintin Peppiatt, Chair Newham Early Years and Childcare Development Partnership Newhan Cabinet Member Children and Young People
I think overall our view is very positive about the investment in the childcare sector in Newham over the last ten years. We have seen lots of initiatives which have been well resourced. We particularly welcome the growth in the childcare market within Newham. Over half the under fives in Newham now use one of the 0-5 programmes in the Borough. We have created over 4,000 childcare places within a variety of sectors in Newham over the past ten years. The initial figures show that this activity has fed through into better outcomes for children whether in their health or early educational indicators.
But their are some concerns for the future we would like to see more work done on the Sustainability of the sector.
More security and continuity of funding to tackle the difficult issues of child poverty, under achievement, generations of worklessness, etc by longer term funding not just a series of changing initiatives.
Ensure that the promise of early childhood services a part of mainstream public services is met.
We want the Government to allow local dimension to policy development.
Use ideas and experience of local people, local politicians. Local practitioners to ensure effective implementation.
There is a lack of central Government staff expertise at implementation.
We want to encourage more joined-up services.
Ensure continuity of new services e.g. childrens centres and extended schools across age ranges to best meet needs of children and families.
Currently separate monitoring and accounting functions and separate government agencies across service delivery this needs to be joined up to create seamless services and better use of resources at both national and local level.
We want to support for disadvantaged children as part of universal and early intervention
Now Government policy, but needs to be more of a whole and continuing policy rather than a set of short-term initiatives or concentration on crisis intervention.
Labour's decade of reform: 1997-2007
1997
2 May Labour promises to 'uphold family life' and 'tackle the division and inequality in our society', in part through a national childcare strategy.
Aug Early Excellence Centre (EEC) pilots launched.
Sept Nursery vouchers abolished and replaced by education grant (NEG). A nursery place is availble for every four-year-old.
Dec 90,000 jobs to be created to meet ten-fold rise in out-of-school clubs in next five years.
1998
May PM Tony Blair unveils National Childcare Strategy, aiming to provide good-quality, affordable childcare for children aged 0 to 14 (and to 16 for those with SEN or disabilities).
Jul 540m Sure Start unveiled.
Sept Baseline assessment is introduced.
Oct Childminding networks launched.
Over 350 after-school clubs open in a month.
7m to save pre-schools.
Early years qualifications framework nears completion.
Dec At least 20,000 teaching assistants' jobs to be created in schools over next five years.
5m for childcare places for parents in further education.
School Standards and Framework Act gives go-ahead for creation of EYDCPs, Education Action Zones and cuts in infant class sizes.
1999
Feb 60 per cent of four-year-olds now attend school.
Mar PM Tony Blair pledges to eradicate child poverty within 20 years.
Proposed early learning goals for the new Foundation Stage (FS) are met with opposition.
Apr National Minimum Wage comes into force.
Jul QCA appoints early years experts to help draw up FS guidance.
Oct 700 pre-schools close and 10,000 childminders give up work in past year (DfES figures).
Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) and Childcare Tax Credit (CTC) begin.
2000
Apr 3,500 pre-schools may close in next year, says PLA.
Most EYDCPs have early years development plans approved.
Jun Recruitment campaign launched to attract 83,000 workers into childcare by 2003.
Jul Commons committee grills minister Margaret Hodge about childcarers' lack of pay, training and status.
Aug Draft care standards attacked for allowing childminders to 'smack and smoke' and recommending only half of staff in sessional and full daycare have only a Level 2 qualification.
Sept FS curriculum begins.
Nov 7m lifeline for nursery schools.
2001
Jan Tax credit fraud continues to cost nurseries dear.
Feb 300m Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative launched, aiming to create 900 nurseries in deprived areas by 2004.
Mar U-turn on national standards - all managers, deputies and room leaders to have a Level 3 qualification.
Qualified nursery nurses earn 3.80-5.00 an hour (Income Data Services).
Investors in Children scheme launched. Four in ten providers to be accredited by 2004.
New funding methods for NVQs raise fears about quality.
Jul Early Excellence Centre numbers to rise to 100 by 2004.
Aug Classroom assistants are increasingly taking on role of teachers (Open University).
Sept National Standards come into force.
Ofsted takes on registration and inspection of childcare for the under-eights.
EPPE research shows nursery schools and classes, combined and local authority, offer better- quality provision overall.
Foundation degrees begin.
Dec Government rejects early years sector's initial bid to have its own Sector Skills Council.
2002
Mar Early Years National Training Organisation is axed.
The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) takes over police checks on childcarers.
Apr Reformed tax credit system to be extended to 'home care', but nannies will not be eligible. A registered 'home childcarer' status to be created.
May Out-of-school provision doubles 1998-2001 (DfES).
Recruitment and retention of childcarers has reached crisis point (Daycare Trust). Jun CRB checks to be processed in India to clear backlog.
Jul Plans to create centres providing health, education and childcare services in the 20 per cent most deprived wards revealed in Comprehensive Spending Review.
Aug REPEY and SPEEL studies reveal importance of child-initiated learning and of having teachers in early years settings.
Sept FS Profile replaces baseline assessment.
Schools can no longer discriminate against any current or future pupils, following provisions made in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001.
Nov Plans for 'radical restructuring' of school workforce unveiled, including 'higher level' assistants and workload agreement.
Birth to Three Matters framework is introduced.
Dec Ofsted urges DfES to review Literacy Strategy and place greater emphasis on phonics as literacy results stall.
Sure Start Unit created.
2003
Feb Government unveils plans for extended schools.
New recruitment drive of childcarers begins.
Mar Government to rebrand Early Excellence Centres, Sure Start projects that offer childcare and Neighbourhood Nurseries as children's centres.
Apr The Working Tax Credit (WTC) replaces WFTC.
Combined inspections are introduced, along with three-point quality grading system.
Government's home childcarer scheme comes into force.
May Government U-turn forbids 'smoking and smacking' by childminders.
Jun Fast-track route to Level 3 (APEL) is announced.
Margaret Hodge becomes first-ever Minister for Children.
One in five under-eights have access to a registered childcare place (Ofsted).
Sept Every Child Matters Green Paper proposes child protection measures, full-service extended schools, local authority directors of children's services, a common assessment framework and five outcomes for children to tackle inequality.
Lesley Staggs is appointed first-ever FS national director.
2004
Feb Sustainability of provision under threat; 626,000 childcare places opened but 301,000 closed (National Audit Office).
Apr Three-year-olds now eligible for free part-time nursery place.
Jun Margaret Hodge promises greater partnership between PVI providers and local authorities.
Jul Government five-year childcare plan is well received. Includes: 17 per cent rise in Sure Start budget, 120,000 more childcare places by 2008, 2,500 children's centres in 30 per cent most deprived areas.
Aug Some EYDCPs restructure to respond better to spate of Government initiatives.
Dec Ten-year childcare strategy unveiled, promising 3,500 children's centres by 2010, new duties for local authorities, an out-of-school childcare place for three- to 14-year-olds from 8am to 6pm each weekday by 2010, a goal of 20 hours a week for 38 weeks for all three- and
four-year-olds.
2005
Mar Professor of child health Al Aynsley-Green becomes England's children's commissioner.
Apr Tax and NI exemption on the first 50 a week of employer-supported, approved childcare is introduced.
Tax credit system extended to families with nannies and 'light-touch' approval scheme introduced for nannies and home-based childcarers.
New inspection regime introduced, including no-notice for nurseries and pre-schools.
DfES launches the Children's Workforce strategy and the prospectus on the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children's Workforce.
Children's centres facing cash shortfall.
Free entitlement increases from 30 to 38 weeks.
The new Occupational Standards in Children's Care, Learning and Development are approved, spanning the nought to16-year-old age group
May Labour wins third General Election and Beverley Hughes becomes children's minister.
Jun Government starts to claw back some 2bn in overpayments of tax credits.
Jul Childcare Bill outlines new responsibilities for local authorities, including managing the childcare market.
Sept National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL) is rolled out nationwide.
Nov The new sector skills council, Skills for Care and Development, is launched.
2006
Feb Government's ambitious Children's Workforce Strategy includes: Early Years Professional leading all children's centres by 2010 and all full daycare settings by 2015, a single qualifications framework in place by 2010, creation of the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) and 250m Transformation Fund to raise proportion of Level 3 and graduate childcarers.
Mar 16m earmarked for creating workplace nurseries.
Rose Review draws criticism for its emphasis on phonics.
Apr Pilots offering free childcare to disadvantaged two-year-olds begin.
Childcare Implementation Project launched to test the best ways in which local authorities can fulfil new responsibilities under the Childcare Act.
5m pilot addressing childcare affordability in London begins.
Code of Practice for the NEG bans top-up fees.
May Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) consultation launched. National press attacks 'curriculum for babies'; sector criticises extension of areas of learning to birth, developmental grids and proposed changes to ratios.
Jul The Childcare Act passes into law. Measures include formalising the strategic role of LAs, requiring them to improve the five ECM outcomes for all pre-school children in their areas and reduce inequalities.
School support staff lose out under single status agreement.
Aug Kent nurseries take their campaign against shortfalls in the NEG nationwide as fury over code of practice spreads.
2007
Feb Average nursery cost for a child under two is 152 per week (Daycare Trust). Mar Final EYFS guidance released to renewed criticism about its format.
Government launches consultation on future funding for early years education.
Apr One million children and their families now have access to a children's centre and its services (Government figures). 1,250 centres now open.
Some areas start to offer free nursery provision for 15 hours a week over 38 weeks.
Paid maternity leave extended to nine months, with the Government's long-term goal being 12 months.
Ofsted undergoes massive expansion and Ofsted Childcare Register begins for registering provision for school-aged children in wraparound or holiday care. Nannies can apply to be registered on the voluntary part of the OCR.
