Kirsty's Early Years

16/03/2026

11/03/2026

We have been tuning into bird sounds now spring is coming 🎶 so I know the children will love this set up 🦅 🐦 🪱

12/02/2026

😣😣😣CHILDCARE IN CRISIS😣😣😣

Copied from Georgina Mercer Freeman

For the past two weeks I’ve sat here questioning EVERYTHING — my industry, its future, why I’ve tried so hard to be an outstanding provider and why I give so much of my life to this job, and whether our nation actually values the foundations of childhood, and if it’s worth all of the anguish, stress, and upset that is currently happening.

I have devoted 20 years to early education because I know what it does for children: it nurtures identity, confidence, kindness, resilience, relationships, curiosity — the fundamental building blocks of life and I believe that every child really does deserve the best start in life, But the very systems meant to support that work are being systematically dismantled.

This Government claims it wants to give children “the best start in life” and expand free childcare. But here’s the real picture behind the slogans:

• The hourly funding rates providers are given for free childcare are lower than the true cost of delivering quality care — forcing settings to operate at a loss.

• Settings can no longer charge fair, sustainable fees on funded hours — pricing and financial control are dictated from Whitehall.

• The very essence of choice for parents is being eroded — fewer independent settings means fewer real options for families.

And now, they are *removing allowances that keep our homes — *which are our workplaces — safe, warm, and child-friendly.

👉 The Government plans to scrap the 10 % wear-and-tear and household allowances for childminders once they are moved onto Making Tax Digital (MTD) ­— allowances that recognise the extra water, heating, cleaning, council tax and everyday equipment use that comes from running childcare in your own home.

No other profession has its workplace in their own home — yet childminders are losing the very tax relief that helps keep that home sustainable.

This change won’t just add administrative headaches — it makes thousands of home-based childcare providers financially unviable, pushing many out of the profession entirely. The unique and flexible childcare options parents rely on will disappear.

And what does that mean?

🔹 Fewer settings — fewer choices for families

🔹 Higher costs and waiting lists as supply shrinks

🔹 More children in government-run or large corporate facilities by default

🔹 Parents increasingly controlled by a system that dictates where and how childcare is delivered

This is not just policy — it’s power.

By controlling funding, allowances, pricing and profitability, the Government is gradually stripping away parents’ choice — not because it’s good for children, but because it centralises control. This is not democracy in action — this is control by another name.

There is almost no media coverage. Millions of parents don’t even know what’s happening to the settings they trust with their children. The stress, fear and financial pressure we are living with is invisible to most — except to those of us fighting to stay open.

We need to be heard.

🗣️ SIGN THESE PETITIONS AND ACT NOW

📌 Stop the removal of the 10% wear and tear & household allowances for childminders — this will protect crucial support that keeps settings financially sustainable:

➡️ https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/754843

📌 Support broader early years funding reform — this petition calls for a full independent review of childcare funding so it matches actual cost, not arbitrary government rates:

➡️ https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/740633

WE CANNOT GO SILENT

Without thriving childcare providers, Britain loses:

✔︎ The very places that support working parents

✔︎ The nurturing environments that build children’s social and emotional skills

✔︎ The businesses that employ people and contribute to the economy

Our children deserve more than sloganeering and underfunded promises — they deserve choice, quality, continuity, love and real opportunity.

This fight is for our children. Their future. Your freedom of choice as a parent.

Please sign, share, talk, research, and think deeply before placing your next vote. This is about more than childcare — it’s about the kind of country we want Britain to be.

We ask Government to establish an Independent Early Years Funding Review Body. Similar to the School Teachers’ Review Body, it could take evidence from providers, parents and experts and recommend fair funding rates based on actual costs, not political decisions, for the Government to respond to.

11/02/2026

Gloop fun with a Valentines theme. The children loved the messy experience ❤️

05/02/2026

Couldn't agree more

Following the recent publication of updated guidance on school-based nursery expansion… 💭

Lately, there’s been a strong push towards school-based nursery provision as the answer to early years access. And while I understand the need for more spaces, I don’t believe moving younger and younger children into classroom-based environments is the solution. 🤔

Young children need connection. They need outdoors. They need flexibility. They need adults who can respond to them, not systems that require them to fit into a box.

Schools play an important role — but they don’t (and can’t) offer what every child needs. And that’s okay.

The beauty of the early years sector has always been its diversity: childminders and home based provision, private nurseries, forest schools, maintained nurseries, preschools and schools — each offering something different, each meeting different needs. This isn’t about pitting one type of provision against another — it’s about recognising that children, families, and communities need different things at different times. 🫶🏻

When policy and funding focus too heavily on one model, we risk narrowing choices for families and overlooking what’s truly best for children.

Early years should never be about what’s easiest to deliver, nor about fitting children into predetermined boxes.
It should always be about what children need to thrive. 🌈🫶🏻❤️

01/02/2026

There’s something happening quietly in the UK that should be making every single person stop and pay attention.

We are losing childminders.

Not slowly. Not “a few here and there”.

In England, registered childminders have dropped to around 25,000.
That’s 1,000 fewer in the last year alone.
And the long-term picture is even worse - we’ve gone from around 60,000 childminders in 2009 to under 25,000 today.

That isn’t a “shift in childcare trends.”
That’s a collapse of a whole part of the sector.

And what makes it heartbreaking is this:

Childminders aren’t leaving because they don’t care.
They’re leaving because they’ve been pushed to the edge.

These are the people who:
* provide a genuine home-from-home experience
* offer the flexibility families rely on
* know children inside out (their interests, their triggers, their routines, their confidence levels)
* build bonds that aren’t just “professional” - they’re secure and life-shaping
* support families through the hardest moments, not just the easy ones
* teach, nurture, guide, comfort, protect… and somehow still manage paperwork, admin, learning journeys, safeguarding, training, risk assessments and inspections on top

Childminders don’t do this job for the money.
They do it because they believe in giving children the best start.

So why are they disappearing?

Because the sector is being stretched to breaking point by:
constant change,
more demands,
more accountability,
more financial pressure,
…and honestly? not enough respect.

And while this is happening, it genuinely feels like the direction of travel is: children being “placed” into childcare that looks more like school, from as young as 9 months.

I’m sorry but… 9 months old.

That should make us all pause.

Because childcare isn’t just about getting parents back to work (as important as that is).
It’s about babies and toddlers being cared for in ways that are developmentally appropriate, nurturing, responsive, and safe.

And homebased childcare has always offered something incredibly special - yet it still isn’t valued the way it should be.

Parents choose childminders because they want:
✅ a smaller setting
✅ familiar routines
✅ stability
✅ flexible care
✅ a caregiver who knows their child deeply
✅ an environment that feels like home - not a production line

And yet… the people providing this essential care are being forced out.

Not because they don’t love the job.
But because loving the job is no longer enough to survive it.

If we lose childminders, families lose choice.
Communities lose support.
Children lose a beautiful, nurturing early experience.

And the early years sector, already on its knees loses even more of its foundation.

This matters.
More than most people realise.

29/01/2026

😪

Retain the 10% wear and tear allowance for childminders, or introduce an equivalent alternative that reflects the additional household costs of providing regulated childcare from home and helps ensure childminding remains financially sustainable.

27/01/2026

This looks a great event for the little ones

Early Years Fest is back for 2026! Taking place at Pontefract Racecourse on Wednesday 25th of February open from 10am-4pm.

Come along to this FREE event and learn about all things 0-5 years - from pregnancy to play to preparing your child to start school!

For more information and to find out how to book your place on a mini masterclass, visit: www.wakefieldfamiliestogether.co.uk/save-the-date-early-years-fest-2026



Wakefield Council Town Crier of Pontefract Pontefract Civic Society Pomfret Family Hub - Pontefract Pontefract Racecourse Wakefield Mumbler

27/01/2026

We enjoyed a Moo Music session today where we sang, danced and played musical instruments. The bath tub props were so much fun. ☺️

25/01/2026

This is fantastic news and I'm sure will be very welcomed by families in the area.

23/01/2026

So important to understand this with little ones

It takes the body time to calm after a meltdown — not just a few deep breaths.

When a child is overwhelmed, their nervous system can take 20–60 minutes to fully settle after a surge of stress hormones. That’s why calm can’t be rushed. They need safety, patience and connection — not pressure to “get over it.”

Understanding this is at the heart of brain-based parenting. Regulation isn’t instant; it’s built through co-regulation and trust.

This also demonstrates why a child needs longer than 5 minutes out of class after an incident.

There is a full range of calming strategy prompts in our toolkit below.

NOW AVAILABLE IN THE RESOURCE STORE
The Child Brain Explained: How the Upstairs & Downstairs Brain Shape Behaviour, a Toolkit for Parents & Educators

Electronic download available at link in comments ⬇️ or via our Linktree Shop in Bio.