Editor's view - The day after

Now heads are clearing, and although the end result of the election, with an outright Conservative majority, was not one that the polls anticipated, it's time to move forward.

The Conservative pledge to double free childcare hours for working parents of three- and four-year-olds to 30 a week may or may not be one that they expected to actually have to deliver, but it's now on the cards and due to go into the Queen's speech later this month.

As our exclusive story just before the election pointed out, expert analysis suggests that the cost of this policy will be far more than the £350m allocated, at £1.2bn, even before the promised review of funding rates.

So it will no doubt be quite a tricky balancing act to come up with an affordable, accessible, high-quality policy!

As we report on pages 4-5, Sam Gyimah returns to the Department for Education ministerial team, and will presumably be steering this through. As we went to press, however, the DfE responsibilities had not been clarified, so keep an eye on the Nursery World website for breaking news.

And if you're finding it hard to shed that post-election fuzziness, what better remedy than to head for the woods for fresh air and fun. Delve into our fantastic special focus on forest schools (pages 19-25) and discover how a wide range of settings are providing wonderful experiences for young children as part of this fast-growing movement.

Whatever political challenges the early years sector faces, children's wonder and joy will help keep us all going!