‘You’re joking! Not another one!’ she said. ‘There’s too much politics going on at the moment.’ Too much politics and not enough policy moving us in the right direction, it could be said.
Although the time until voting day is mercifully brief, government effectively ceases and nothing but electioneering will happen. And Brexit will be the main focus, whatever efforts the Labour Party make to bring education and health to the attention of the nation.
Following the election, Brexit will also be to the fore to the detriment of other matters, including early years. The 30 hours policy will roll on, of course, a lumbering folly in the view of many. The Department for Education guidance on 30 hours for providers and councils was pushed out and the Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours registration system for parents launched before the election shutdown, but few new ideas can be expected for the next few years.
The drawn-out and tortuous saga of the Level 3 apprenticeships standard will not be halted by such trifles as elections, however, and we report on the latest moves. The new trailblazer group, headed by Busy Bees, has put out its revised Level 3 standard for consultation with the early years sector. The GCSE dispute that caused years of delay with the previous group’s standard, and its ultimate sacking, has finally been resolved, but what a waste of time and effort it all was.
Nevertheless, early years employees should respond quickly to the new standard and speed its progress to final implementation.