CYP Now - 'Invest in the childcare workforce to get best outcomes for children'

"What a mess! Despite investment to give more infants nursery care, there are huge problems with recruitment and retention, and so much unwillingness to gain any further qualification."

These are not my comments. They come from a colleague who I spoke at a meeting last month.

I also recently attended Wolverhampton University to celebrate the first set of graduates from its early years studies course, developed with the London Early Years Foundation. I said to the audience in the packed hall: "You are second only to parents and families for having the greatest influence on children and their outcomes in life - you are really important people.

"We are experiencing unprecedented political turmoil and challenges, but there are opportunities galore. We need to look out of the box, see what's going on elsewhere, define what we want to achieve for our children and, above all, speak out for their needs - if you don't, who else will?"

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