NEWS

currently undertaking their apprenticeship programme, and will “allow many thousands more apprentices to complete their apprenticeships and enter employment, supporting vital sectors such as early years to meet skills and workforce demands”, according to the Department for Education (DfE).

The requirement for apprentices aged 16-18 years old to achieve English and maths qualifications will continue.

The government projects that these changes will enable up to 10,000 more apprentices to qualify per year.

The minimum duration of an apprenticeship will also be reduced to eight months from the current minimum of 12 months.

Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson said: “Growing the economy and opportunity for all are fundamental Missions of our Plan for Change, and we are determined to support apprentices throughout this National Apprenticeship Week and beyond.

“Businesses have been calling out for change to the apprenticeship system and these reforms show that we are listening. Our new offer of shorter apprenticeships and less red tape strikes the right balance between speed and quality, helping achieve our number one mission to grow the economy.

“Skills England will be a major driver in addressing the skills gaps needed to support employers up and down the country, and I look forward to working with the new leadership.”

Social and emotional skills must be prioritised for children and society to thrive, according to a new framework published by the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood.

The Shaping Us framework aims to improve the awareness and understanding of young children's social and emotional skills, outlining 30 “crucial” life skills that begin to develop in the early years and impact throughout life.

The new framework draws on the expertise of academics, clinicians, and practitioners in human development from across the globe, offering what it describes as “a universal and flexible way to talk about social and emotional skills that cuts across all areas of life and engages a broad audience”.

The publication follows the Royal Foundation Centre’s annual public perception survey, which revealed that, though 94% of adults surveyed believe social and emotional skills are important to happiness in adult life, 42% reported having little to no understanding of how these skills develop in early childhood.

The full report can be found bit.ly/u5-shapingus-framework.

Christian Guy, executive director of The Centre for Early Childhood, said: “It is time that we recognised and acted upon the undeniable significance of social and emotional skills and give them the recognition they deserve. Getting this right in early childhood – when we lay the foundations upon which these skills continue to grow throughout our lives – could have a truly profound impact on the future of individuals and of our society.”

Commenting, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “We warmly welcome the announcement of this new framework from the Centre for Early Childhood.

"At a time when, all too often, discussions around children's learning are focused on narrow, easy-to-measure skills – and getting children 'ready for school' – the Royal Foundation's continued emphasis on broader skills and particularly, children's social and emotional development, is incredibly welcome.

"We look forward to supporting the important work in the months and years to come."

approach to inspections and reporting on education providers, including early years settings.

Proposals for a new inspection model include:

• Introducing a ‘report card’ system, giving parents detailed information about standards across more areas of practice in their child’s school, early years, or further education provider.
  
• Replacing the ‘single word judgement’ with a new five-point grading scale for each evaluation area, including a new top ‘exemplary’ grade to help raise standards.
  
• Returning to schools with identified weaknesses to check timely action is being taken to raise standards.
  
• Increasing focus on support for disadvantaged and vulnerable children and learners, including those with SEND.
  
• Placing more emphasis on providers’ circumstances and local context.
  

Ofsted has also launched new toolkits to tailor inspections to the phase and type of provider.

These proposals follow on from the result of The Big Listen consultation in 2024, which gathered feedback from both families and education professionals. The results showed that most felt the overall effectiveness grade should go and that inspection reports should provide a more nuanced view of an education provider’s strengths and areas for improvement.

A 2023 Alliance provider survey found that around eight in ten (79%) nurseries, pre-schools and childminders were stressed about Ofsted inspections “fairly” or “very often”, while almost half of respondents (45%) had had a negative Ofsted experience. Around a fifth (21%) said they had filed a formal complaint, and more than half (52%) said the inspection judgements they received were unfair. The vast majority of the sector (77%) supported the removal of the single-word Ofsted grading, with almost three in five (58%) ‘strongly’ supporting this.

Commenting, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: "Given that our own research found that Ofsted inspections are the single biggest source of stress among early years providers, it's clear that the need to ensure that inspections are collaborative and constructive, rather than a source of anxiety, has never been greater.

"And with the vast majority of settings in favour of the removal of single-word judgements, it is undoubtedly positive that Ofsted is pushing ahead with its plans to remove headline judgements and considering how it can best ensure that parents receive a holistic overview of a setting’s provision.

"That said, while these proposals may be an improvement on the old system, we are yet to be convinced that the move to a five-point scale, even across multiple areas of provision, is the transformative change that many in the sector were hoping for.

"What's more, we're clear that any reform of the inspection system must include further steps to ensure a much greater consistency of approach among inspectors -meaning that a setting’s inspection outcome does not depend on the particular inspector they happen to get on the day.

"As such, it is absolutely vital that this consultation marks a genuine opportunity for providers to have their voices heard. This means that, should the sector be opposed to these proposals, the inspectorate must be prepared to rethink its plans, rather than charge ahead regardless, and work with the education sector to develop an approach to inspection that truly does work for everyone."

Commenting, Neil Leitch, chief executive of the Early Years Alliance, said: “Given that from September, government will control the price of around 80% of early years provision, it has never been more important for that funding to genuinely reflect the true cost of delivering places. And yet we know in many areas, this year’s rate increases won’t come close to mitigating the impact of April’s National Insurance and wage rises, meaning that costs for both providers and families are likely to spiral.

“So, while today’s guidance may rightly make charges clearer for parents, it does not take away from the fact that unless the government takes urgent action to tackle sector underfunding, many providers will still have no choice but to increase the price of any non-funded hours parents take up or optional extras they purchase – or risk facing permanent closure.

“If the government is as serious about ensuring that all families can access affordable care and education as it says it is, then it simply must tackle the root causes of rising early years costs. As we know from the past decade and beyond, ignoring the problem of underfunding won’t make it go away.”

Children are starting school behind developmental expectations, according to a report published by early education and childhood development charity Kindred².

The report investigates school readiness from both parent and teacher perspectives, with the charity – in conjunction with Savanta – conducting focus groups and surveying over a thousand teachers and a thousand parents across England and Wales in 2024.

Being ‘school ready’ refers to the full range of developmental measures and milestones outlined for preschool children, as opposed to academic attainment.

The report shows that reception teachers found 33% of children were not school ready in September 2024, with 49% of teachers believing the school-readiness problem is worse than in September 2023. In comparison, 90% of parents say their child was ready for school in September 2024.

In the 2024 reception cohort, teachers report that 36% of children struggled to play and share with other children, 34% struggled to listen or respond to simple instruction, and 25% were not toilet trained when they started school.

Other findings in the report include:

• 54% of teachers say boys are less school-ready than girls, compared to just 3% who say girls are less school ready.
  
• 49% of parents and 45% of teachers say parents do not feel it is their role to ready children for reception.
  
• 43% of parents and 54% of teachers state that children’s screen time is a major factor in children not being school ready.
  

Commenting Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said: "The findings from this survey are, while deeply concerning, sadly not at all surprising. All children deserve the best possible start in life, and ensuring children are supported to make that all-important transition to school – while also recognising that it is the responsibility of schools to be 'ready' for children, rather than the other way around – is a vital part of this.

"But, if we’re going to have any hope of reversing the trends highlighted in this report, we need a cohesive system of early years support in this country: one that ensures nurseries, pre-schools and childminders have the resources and funding they need to deliver quality care and education, and invests in comprehensive, joined-up systems of family services to ensure the parents are adequately supported during their child's earliest years.

“As such, while we welcome the government's commitment to putting the early years at their heart of policy, as is so clearly demonstrated by this report, this positive rhetoric simply must be followed by tangible action to make sure that all children get the early support they need and deserve."

An updated list of ‘full and relevant’ early years qualifications that count towards staff:child ratios in the UK has been released by the Department for Education (DfE).

The release also includes details of common qualifications that are not accepted.

It follows the DfE’s announcement stating that an early years qualification-checking digital service is set to be introduced to aid early years managers and practitioners when assessing potential employees’ qualifications and suitability.

The updated list can be accessed at bit.ly/u5-eyquals-update.