initiatives.
The 1st of September saw the introduction of some significant legislative and regulatory changes, plus a new minister to get to grips with the early years brief.
Childminding agencies have officially started - more with a whimper than a bang! However, although their number is small at the moment, some aspects of their regulation are more concerning the more you think about them.
The fact that there is no requirement for an agency to show prospective parents its assessment of a particular childminder is particularly worrying. There will be no independent inspection of the agency childminder for a parent to see, of course, and even if the agency does reveal its internal inspection, it is not an independent view - the agency's income depends on putting as many children as possible with the childminders on its books.
It feels as though many years of childminding being professionalised are being turned back, particularly given the view of Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw reported in the London Evening Standard this week that, 'With poor families now getting 15 hours free provision of childcare, the Government should try to ensure they go to a school-based nursery, not the local child-minder'.
We mark the introduction of the new SEND code of practice with an essential guide from Kay Mathieson (pages 21-25).
And we've also secured the first interview with childcare and education minister Sam Gyimah. He's keen to listen to the sector, but perhaps we all need to change his view that under-funding of the free entitlement is not a problem. The House of Lords Committee has certainly been informed otherwise (see Viewpoint, opposite).