Update on the Labour Government’s policy priorities to support the early years sector in addressing its key challenges, and how it intends to maintain an open, positive dialogue with providers.

In-depth Q&A session with Ofsted, exploring what its changes to the early years inspection framework and the move to single word judgements will mean for quality and success of providers.
- Will the report card be more effective for nurseries to communicate their strengths to prospective families?
- Will the existing descriptors remain, and how will they be expanded?
- Are there other priorities that need to be addressed, such as a more regular inspection cycle?
- How will the new inspection framework meet the needs of the sector as it evolves?

Christine Farquharson returns to this year’s summit with her incisive analysis of early years investment and policy, plus the bigger picture for public finances in 2025 and beyond – particularly in the context of the new Government and rollout of the expanded childcare offer.

Discussions will include:
• The sector is crying out for an effective new workforce strategy – is this the key to addressing staffing challenges?
• Developing sector led-quality improvement based on better qualifications and CPD – linking to better pay
• The need to establish a new qualified teacher route – and establishing parity with QTS
• Creating a skilled and diverse workforce

The Government’s ‘Plan to make work pay’ aims to modernise the UK workforce, give workers more rights and put bigger wages in their pockets. Nursery World’s regular columnist Imogen Edmunds will unpick changes to employment law and explore how this will affect pay and recruitment in the sector, placing it in the context of other issues such as the rise of the National Minimum Wage.

Digital skills are increasingly essential for an effective and productive early years workforce. They should form part of career progression opportunities and help to retain knowledge in the workforce but tend to be lacking in current training. This session will outline the challenges and provide practical steps to help transform the situation.

Partou’s Josie Mortimer and Simon Booth Liddle outline how, as part of an acquisition strategy, their company integrated 2,000 team members across 106 sites, creating a new business strategy, leadership and processes under the Partou brand.

The early years sector continues to consist of very different types of setting. Andrew Clifford will provide insights into the strengths of various models of provision, including social enterprises, partnership nurseries, single sites, co-operatives and large groups. He will consider which types of organisations are best placed to be sustainable in the current landscape, provide high quality and affordable options for parents, and deliver the best outcomes for children.