Childcare News

The Department for Education has updated its guidance for early years providers on operating during the pandemic ahead of Step 4 of lockdown easing, which will happen on 19th July.  In an updated version of Actions for early years and childcare...

The Anna Freud Centre has published its findings from a survey about staff well-being, alongside NDNA’s sample well-being policy.  Key points from the survey are:   Nursery staff love their work, and many feel their settings are actively...

Press release from: Tops Day Nurseries. The 1st June marked the start of Pride Month, a month dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ communities all around the world. Tops Day Nurseries, an eco-sustainable Early Education and Care nursery group,...

Press release from: Tops Day Nurseries Tops Day Nurseries based at 1000 Lakeside Business Park in Cosham have recently piloted a ‘Real Nappy Scheme’ in a bid to reduce the amount of disposable nappies and baby wipes being used in day to day...

The NDNA has added its support to a petition which is calling for the government to commission an independent review of childcare funding and affordability. The petition is open to all parents, providers and staff working in early years and has...

Robert Halfon, chair of the education select committee and former skills minister is calling on the government to pay apprentice wages and fund their full cost of training “for at least a year” if they work for a small or medium-sized employer...

The government has pledged an additional £1.4 billion for the next stage of its ‘education recovery’ plans. Approximately £1 billion of this will be allocated to 6 million tutoring courses for disadvantaged schools and an expansion of the 16-19...

Press release from: Tops Day Nurseries Tops Day Nurseries are delighted to unveil their official new logo! Over the years the changes within the learning environments at Tops Day Nurseries have reflected their ongoing efforts to become as...

A £1 million ‘early years sports fund’ has been launched by the government to give every child attending nursery in England the chance to have a free sports and activity class. With many early years settings facing financial challenges during...

All state schools in England that have a Reception class are now able to apply for training and resources to help Reception-aged pupils who are struggling with language and communication skills, due to the pandemic. Government-funded early years...

Leading education charity, The Sutton Trust is urging the UK government to put early years at the forefront of the post-Covid education recovery programme; warning that schools in England “will pick up the pieces if early years are not...

Press release from: Tops Day Nurseries Tops Day Nurseries Corfe Mullen, on Blandford Road, have recently welcomed Shaye Jaques, as nursery manager to their setting. Before joining Tops Corfe Mullen, Shaye was the nursery manager at Tops Yeovil...

Press release from: Watermead Day Nursery. Watermead day nursery staff and children were saddened by the news of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh. To pay our respects a group of children created a masterpiece with our resident artist to send...

Press release from: Tops Day Nurseries In December 2020, Tops Day Nurseries were announced as the UK’s first family of early years education providers to be awarded a “Green Flag” status from Eco-Schools at all of its settings across the South....

Following the findings of a recent survey, the Early Years Alliance is urging the government to undertake an urgent review of early years funding in England. Its latest survey revealed that just one in ten parents believe that early years...

A recent report from Nursery World shows that many early years settings fear they will need to turn parents away due of staff shortages, caused by an increased lack of qualified level 3 child practitioners. The DfE temporarily disapplied some...

A survey by leading unions and charities has revealed that government-funded nurseries are facing a survival-threatening crisis due to COVID funding. They are losing an average of £70,000 of income but have to spend an extra £8,000 for...

Press release from: Tops Day Nurseries Award winning Early Years Education provider Tops Day Nurseries, honoured Captain Sir Tom Moore by taking part in their own ‘Captain Tom 100’. Second World War veteran Sir Tom raised more than £32 million...

Press release from: Bright Little Stars Nursery On Saturday 24th April 2021, Bright Little Stars Nursery officially opened the doors to their newest, purpose-built nursery in Stratford during a small ribbon-cutting ceremony in line with the...

Press release from: More2Childcare Nursery More2Childcare Nursery in Greenwich celebrated its five-year anniversary on Wednesday 21st April, with the Mayor, in an outdoor event. Using grant money obtained from Greenwich Council, the newly...

Cambridge University has paid tribute to expert on play and early childhood, Dr David Whitebread, who has died. Dr Whitebread championed learning through play and was an influential academic and researcher in developmental psychology and early...

Gill Jones, Deputy Director, Schools and Early Education from Ofsted has posted a new blog on the update of the education inspection framework (EIF) handbooks. In the blog, she sets out some of the main changes to the early years handbook, and...

On Friday 23rd April, the Labour Party launched a programme of early years events – the aim of which is to engage families and demonstrate the importance of early education and childcare services. This is as a result of new data which reveals...

Press release from: Tops Day Nurseries - Winchester Simon Evans, Senior Nursery Manager at Top Winchester, based at Royal Hampshire County Hospital, was selected as one of the ten finalists for the Famly Children’s Champion 2020 out of the close...

A new report by the NDNA has revealed that LEAs have underspent £62 million of early years government funding. The report states that 55 councils, representing 51%, reported an underspend totalling £30m - and more councils used their unspent...

The early years sector is divided over the latest reforms to the EYFS, with some industry leaders citing that it could encourage a shift from play-based learning to a much more ‘formal’ approach. The changes, set to be introduced from 1st...

Following six months of consultation and input across the early years sector, on 31 March 2021, the Early Years Coalition launched “Birth to 5 Matters” – the eagerly awaited curriculum guidance that has been created by the sector, for the...

Press release from: Milton Hall Montessori Nursery School At Milton Hall Montessori Nursery School, we like to come together as a family and raise money for causes that are close to our hearts. During the end of our Spring Term, we shared with...

Press release from: Little Adventurers Nursery & Preschool Little Adventurers believe in supporting their local Havering community and this includes regular fundraising for the Salvation Army charity. Keen to set themselves a further...

A new report from the Education Policy Institute in partnership with the NDNA has revealed that the early years sector has been heavily reliant on the furlough scheme during the height of winter lockdown. The report, which examines how early...

On 29th March, the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson confirmed his request that Ofsted ‘step up’ its inspection programme over the summer term, with a view to returning to a full programme of inspections from September 2021. During the...

Babies and children in England will get a better start in life, following the publication of a review into reducing inequalities in the first 1,001 days of life. The Early Years Review – The best start for life: a vision for the 1,001 critical...

Press release from: Tops Day Nurseries. Tops Day Nurseries, have been working hard to promote the importance of reading in Early Years Education during the Great Big Read, which took place in the UK throughout March with support from the local...

Press release from: ICP Nurseries Led by the ICP Equality and Diversity Committee, we are excited to announce that ICP Nurseries has adopted The Halo Code, the UK's first Black hair code. No Black employee should have to change their natural or...

The UK government announces a big change to the National Living Wage in April 2021 - Millions of people are expected to receive a pay rise In our previous post, "November Spending Review: Early Years Funding – Treasury announces £44 million...

Figures from the recent Coram Family and Childcare survey have revealed that the cost of childcare has increased by 4% on average due to the current pandemic. It’s no secret that every industry has been affected by the pandemic and the early...

Childcare providers have been offered advice and guidance on how to protect sensitive data and safeguard staff and children by minimising the risk of a cyber security incident. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ - the UK’s...

Lateral flow devices for COVID-19 testing are starting to make their way into nurseries and pre-schools and staff have been told by the DfE that they are able to start using them from 22nd March. The existing government guidance on rapid lateral...

Press release from: Watermead Day Nursery This week is National Intergenerational Week, here at Watermead Day Nursery we are passionate about intergenerational activity and for several years our children have been visiting Longcliffe Nursing...

Press release from: Horn End Nurseries Our children at Horn End had been talking about Captain Tom and we had discussed how all superheroes don't wear cloaks! During the pandemic we have been holding regular special events to recreate the...

Early years chiefs have welcomed the announcement by the Department for Education that all staff from the private, voluntary and independent nurseries (PVI) sector will have access to lateral flow device (LFD) home tests twice-weekly as of 22nd...

At the end of last month, the government announced that phase 2 of the vaccinations rollout will continue by age as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and Public Health England (PHE). Following the first...

Ofsted has announced that it will not restart its early years assurance inspections in March as previously planned. Ofsted planned to return to inspections, to monitor whether childcare providers were meeting the EYFS requirements from 8th...

The Department for Education has reported that the number of COVID cases in nurseries has risen in January. The figures that the DfE released showed 582 reported cases in early year settings during the week of 28th December, even with most of...

Purnima Tanuku OBE, Chief Executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has responded to a new report from the Anna Freud Centre that revealed a significant number of nursery practitioners have been working with children with...

Press release from Nursery World It is the last chance for the early years sector to voice their opinion and help shape the industry for the better. The second draft of ‘Birth to 5 Matters’ has been published, along with another consultation...

Previously, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) booking system for the COVID-19 vaccination reflected that childcare and early years practitioners were eligible for the vaccine. Some practitioners may have already been vaccinated, or...

Press release from: Milton Hall Montessori The children at Milton Hall Montessori School were able to experience the colourful celebrations of "Chinese New Year" with the help of Sean’s parents kindly borrowed a Lion dance head dress. At circle...

Boris Johnson announced on 27th January that additional funding of £300m will be available for education settings - including early years - as well as ‘COVID premium’ support due to the ongoing pandemic restrictions. The Prime Minister also...

Asda has announced that they will offer priority slots to 5,000 nurseries who shop online with them. The supermarket chain has provided childcare settings with ‘Priority Passes’ - giving them access to slots up to 21 days in advance and letting...

In January, Purnima Tanuku, Chief Executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), wrote to MP Vicky Ford, asking for nursery staff to be prioritised for COVID-19 vaccinations and to provide testing kits to settings instead of...

A child-centred recovery report has been published to highlight how high quality early years provision makes a difference to young children. The key messages from the report are: The importance of effective early years delivery, helping children...

The government has said that schools will not have to complete the EYFS profile in 2021, after they announced that summer KS1 and KS2 assessments would not go ahead this year because of the pandemic. Instead, childcare settings have been asked...

The government has published new guidance showing strengthened expectations for providing remote education while settings and schools remain closed. On 11th  January, they published useful advice to help teachers and leaders develop their...

In light of the new national lockdown restrictions put in place, the Department for Education has issued new guidance for training providers, employers, assessment organisations and apprentices. The update describes how and when apprentices can...

The Early Years Alliance, the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) and the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) have joined forces and issued a call for the government to take urgent steps to protect the safety and...

Following vaccine minister Nadim Zahawi’s defence of the decision for early years settings to remain open during lockdown, nursery groups have urged the government to step in, by vaccinating staff so that they can remain open for children of key...

Nurseries, led by the Early Years Alliance, are urging the government to continue basing funding for 'free childcare' places on pre-pandemic attendance levels until the end of the spring term, after the Department for Education (DfE) revealed a...

Feedback from Early Years Alliance members and the wider sector as a whole reveals that the pressures of working in the sector during the pandemic have taken a toll on mental health and wellbeing. As a result, the EYA is continuing to campaign...

The theme for the 14th annual National Apprenticeship Week (NAW2021) has been revealed by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). ‘Build the Future’ – running from 8th to 14th February, will focus on how employers train, retain and...

Ofsted has announced a phased return to early years inspections in 2021, as a result of the continuing challenges facing the industry, caused by COVID-19. The phased return means that no graded inspections will be carried out before the summer...

Press release from: Milton Hall Montessori Last Thursday 26th November all the children at Milton Hall enjoyed  celebrating Thanksgiving with many activities. A special circle time followed by story time, and celebrating with a small feast of...

The Duchess of Cambridge has unveiled findings from the biggest UK survey on the early years, revealing that many people do not recognise the critical importance of the first five years in a child’s life. The Duchess has made the early years one...

The DfE has updated its previous guidance for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus outbreak. With the National lockdown still in place, providers should continue to follow the National restrictions guidance until 2nd...

A £375 million skills package was announced by chancellor Rishi Sunak in last week’s spending review - which includes £138 million of funding to deliver the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, £127 million to continue the Plan for Jobs skills measures...

The Treasury announced that it will be spending an additional £44 million on funding to “increase the hourly rate paid to childcare providers” for the government’s funded childcare offers. The announcement came as part of the Treasury’s Spending...

Press release from Tops Day Nurseries Tops Day Nurseries in Bournemouth have recently received a silver award as part of the Eco-Schools award. Eco-schools is the largest educational programme on the planet, reaching globally 19.5 million...

Early years childcare funding will be distributed based on 2019's attendance figures, to avoid punishing schools and other providers that saw a “small fraction” of normal attendance because of Covid-19. In a report for Telford and Wrekin’s...

The government has released its latest figures for attendance in England’s education and early years settings from Monday 23 March to Thursday 12 November (excluding out of term dates). The statistics, in their entirety can be found here in the...

Andrea Leadsom MP, chair of the Early Years Healthy Development Review has told Nursery World that new parents, struggling to get the help they need during the pandemic would benefit from ‘vital’ digital and remote support. The Early Years...

Press release from Tops Day Nurseries. One of the South’s leading family of day nurseries is calling for clarity in Covid-19 measures after receiving unclear advice from regulators and authorities. A colleague at Tops Day Nurseries suspected...

Press release from Milton Hall Montessori Nursery School. Diwali, the festival of lights is indeed the most awaited and the most celebrated festivals of India and all around the world in October or November. It is the Hindu New Year and is...

Press release from Tops Day Nurseries. A Day care company with nurseries across the South West will remain open throughout the second lockdown. On Saturday 31st October the Government announced there would be a second lockdown for four weeks,...

Press release from Milton Hall Montessori Nursery School. Armistice Day is on the 11th of November and is also known as Remembrance Day. It marks the day World War One ended, at 11 am on the 11th day of the 11th month, in 1918. A two-minute...

Nearly 17% of childcare settings fear they will have to close their doors by Christmas, with just over half saying they will need emergency funding to stay open for the next six months. The survey by the Early Years Alliance also found that only...

On Saturday 31 October the Prime Minister announced New National Restrictions, lasting from Thursday 5 November until Wednesday 2 December, to control the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Within the guidance, the government confirms that it...

The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) and the Education Policy Institute (EPI) are launching the second survey in their year-long research project looking at the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the early years sector. With the...

Press release from Bright Little Stars Nursery, Barnet.   In such challenging times, it is heart-warming to have a something positive to celebrate in the local community. On Wednesday 4th November 2020, prior to the second lockdown...

Press release from Tops Corfe Mullen Nursery. With all the speculation in the media about the lack of support for parents accessing vouchers in place of free school meals, a Corfe Mullen Nursery is stepping up to give back to the community. As...

Press release from Tops Day Nurseries, Winchester. Children at Tops Day Nurseries in Winchester have reached out to residents at St Catherine’s View Care home this Autumn. Many studies have concluded that social interaction between children and...

Press release from Little Adventurers Nursery and Preschool. The pre-school children from Little Adventurers Nursery, Upminster have had a fun week celebrating this traditional Halloween festival but with a few differences! Most Halloween...

The government has abandoned its long-term Comprehensive Spending Review amid economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Chancellor Rishi Sunak will now announce a one-year review in late November. The Treasury said it was "the right...

The Department for Education has updated its 'Actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak' guidance for staff and children who are defined as 'clinically extremely vulnerable'. Significantly, the...

Early years practitioners in England have been invited to take part in an online survey to review the existing EYFS guidance and get involved in developing an alternative, revised version which will be "right for the sector". During the coming...

The chancellor, Rishi Sunak has revealed changes to the Job Support Scheme (JSS) - set to replace furlough in November. On 22nd October, he announced increased support for jobs and workers hit by COVID restrictions after growing pressure from...

The boss of nursery chain Tops Day Nurseries has warned of a looming staffing crisis as the furlough scheme is set to end at the end of this month. She has been joined by other leading childcare providers from across the South in expressing...