?A very worrying report out this week from the Early Years Alliance indicates many childcare providers in the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sector find themselves in a funding crisis.
Those who lived through the bleak days of the Woodhead/Blunkett Education regime of the late 1990s scarcely imagined that early-years policy-making could be any more Dark-Aged, but in this respect the current Wilshaw/Gove regime is breaking all previous records.
The Government's £30m school nurseries fund may be great news for schools, but why should private and voluntary nurseries be seen as second-class citizens?
With estimates stating that 11 cases of Female Genital Mutilation are reported daily in the UK, Angie Marriott FGM expert, and consultant at The Training Hub, explains why training for early years professionals is essential in order to protect children.
The co-founder of the Early Years Equality action group and director of The Children's Garden Day Nursery in Norwich, says the recent report on nursery closures is unlikely to be taken seriously by the Government.
An upcoming Planning Framework will help local authorities ensure that Family Hubs meet the needs of their communities, says Jo Casebourne, chief executive of Foundations – What Works Centre for Children & Families
The benefits system needs to reach more families and be raised in line with inflation sooner in order to avoid children going cold and hungry, says Dr Rebecca Montecute of the Sutton Trust