Funded places for two-year-olds

The government’s programme of free early learning places for the least advantaged two-year-olds is now fully operational - make sure you are equipped to play your part.

Special Offer: Try Nursery World for 27p per day

The aim of the programme is to support families in the most disadvantaged circumstances to access early education and to close the attainment gap.

The key points about the funded places programme for two-year-olds are:

• The 20 per cent most disadvantaged two-year-olds will be eligible for 15 hours of free early education a week from September 2013
• The number of eligible children rose to 260,000 by September 2014
• The Government allocated £755m revenue to local authorities for 2014-15
• The average hourly rate for providers is £5.09

Nursery World is offering comprehensive news and views of the roll-out of the programme, as well as in-depth guides to best practice in supporting two-year-olds, all written by the top experts. It is the UK's leading publication for practitioners and decision-makers across the early years education and childcare sectors.

Two-Year-Olds Guide *FREE*
Nursery World’s Two-year-Olds Guide is all you need to help you support young children and their families on the Government’s funded places programme. With 260,000 of the least advantaged two-year-olds now able to access 15 hours a week of early education, our guide is full of advice and information about best practice, training and business support.

This exclusive Nursery World digital issue covers topics such as:

• Working with parents – Welcoming new families to your setting and getting to know them
• Settling in – How to smooth the transition and build secure relationships between key persons and children
• Enabling Environments – Why both physical and psychological aspects of the environment are fundamental to the quality of provision
• Planning – Putting strong processes in place for long-term and short-term planning
• Business support – where to find advice on organising your business to participate in the two-year-olds programme
• Plus lots more!