How many children aged under three should childminders and nursery staff be allowed to look after at the same time?
A relaxation in the number of pre-school children that nurseries and registered childminders can oversee has been announced in order to professionalise the pre-school workforce and cut the cost of childcare in England.
Leading charities Daycare Trust and Children in Scotland hosted ‘Childcare in 2020 – developing an early years vision for Scotland’ a policy event in the Scottish parliament, building on the First Minister’s announcement that the forthcoming Children's Bill will include a legal guarantee of 600 hours of free nursery education per year for every aged child aged three and four from 2014.
The event, sponsored by Liam McArthur MSP and Tribal brought together politicians, policy makers and practitioners from across Scotland to debate and discuss the vision for Scottish childcare over the next decade and beyond.
The event was chaired by Richard Walker, editor of the Sunday Herald, with speakers including Aileen Campbell MSP, Minister for Children and Young People, Alan Sinclair, Associate at the Centre of Confidence and Well-being, Bronwen Cohen, Chief Executive of Children in Scotland and Anand Shukla, Chief Executive of Daycare Trust, as well as Parent Champions for Childcare from Daycare Trust’s Liverpool project.
Daycare Trust’s 25th anniversary lecture, held on 19 May, was given by Professor James Heckman, Nobel prize winning economist and Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago.
The lecture, hosted in the Churchill Room at the Treasury and introduced by the Rt Hon Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury was entitled ‘Creating a more equal and productive Britain’ and reviewed the evidence on the links between non-cognitive and cognitive skills in later life. His multi-disciplinary and wide-ranging presentation clearly set out the need for investment in the early years, in order to deliver better outcomes for children. You can see the presentation by clicking on the link below.
Download a copy of Professor James J. Heckman's presentation
View a copy of the speaker biographies
The new name for Daycare Trust and the Family and Parenting Institute.
Report reveals childcare is the luxury that families have to afford as figures show that nursery, childminder and after-school club costs are all rising at more than double the rate of inflation.
The two charities merged on 1 January 2013 and the new charity will be launched in April 2013.
A review of Daycare Trust's achievements in 2012
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