This doctoral study examined the function of baby massage in supporting early infant-carer attachment relationships among families facing stressful life experiences. It was designed in response to Bennett, Underdown and Barlow's [Bennett, C., A. Underdown, and J. Barlow. 2013. "Massage for Promoting Mental and Physical Health in Typically…

This paper discusses the challenges facing a national evaluation of an early years intervention programme, Sure Start Children's Centres (SSCCs), that was implemented across England in the first decade of the 21st century. The paper describes the rationale for the evaluation's mixed methods research design and the ecological theoretical approach…

In June 2021, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the Early Years Education Recovery funding, a £180m package of support to help the sector recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. It comprised training programmes, qualifications, guidance and targeted whole setting support, delivered through a series of complimentary work programmes. This…

Parents play a vital role in identifying children's needs for support and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) features that support children's well-being. This study examined parental perspectives on features of ECEC that foster young children's well-being under and above the age of 3 years by interviewing 359 parents across nine European…

The objective of the research was to analyze the scientific production regarding accident prevention in early child rearing institutions. An integrative literature review, referring to the years between 2011 and 2021, whose research was carried out in May 2021 in seven information resources, raised the following issue: it was found that not all…

This report presents an analysis of childcare providers' finances based on a survey carried out in 2023, during the period leading up to significant reforms in the funding of childcare in England. In the 2023 Spring Budget, the government announced that, from April 2024, government-funded childcare would be expanded to younger children, and that,…

This article examines how the practice of supervision has developed within a range of early childhood education and care (ECEC) provision in a county in Central England in the United Kingdom. Supervision has been recently introduced as a mandatory requirement for ECEC in England in 2012, and there is limited research looking at the impact of this.…

Early years policy in England is at a turning point. There has perhaps never been more political attention on the sector, with growing sentiment from parents that existing provision does not serve their needs. This briefing lays out existing evidence for the benefits of early education, including inequalities in access to existing entitlements,…

Early years practitioners are central to UK government policy in alleviating poverty in early childhood. The significant level and rise in child poverty rates suggest that their role is becoming increasingly important in supporting families on low incomes. Paradoxically, cuts to children's services under austerity policies and the low pay and…

Despite the extensive research evidence about the importance of high-quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), English policy makers continue to promote nurseries for the 'childcare' they provide, rather than the transformational effects they can have in areas of socio-economic challenge. The aim of this study was to investigate if and…

Children are born to play and are born as intuitive scientists and use numeracy and literacy in their play. Playing is an essential apprenticeship for developing scientific (STEM) literacy. Observing children spontaneously playing reveals that they are experiencing STEM in action. They are observing phenomena, asking questions, solving problems,…

This article critically examines how the policy of funded nursery places for 'disadvantaged' two-year-olds in England opens up economic and political spaces in readiness for increased governance. The government introduced funded nursery places in September 2013, which aimed to promote disadvantaged children's educational outcomes, narrow the…

Latest research from the authors and their team at the University of Oxford has used administrative data, a survey of local authorities, and a series of case studies to paint a picture of what has happened to children's centres across England. The six case studies include Londonborough, Portcity, Shipcity, Rivershire, Midshire, and Northport.…

Evidence suggests that early education can promote children's development and narrow attainment gaps between those from lower-income and higher-income families. However, realisation of these potential benefits depends on many factors, feasibly including peer composition. We use national census data for a year-group cohort of children in England in…

This paper reports on a segment of Ph.D. research which was undertaken to develop participatory pedagogy working specifically within a praxeological paradigm [Oliveira-Formosinho, J., and J. Formosinho. 2012a. "Praxeological Research in Early Childhood: a Contribution to a Social Science of the Social." European Early Childhood Education…