London Mayor's office launches toolkit for childcare providers wanting to set up their own Early Years Hub

The free online toolkit is for anyone interested in the Mayor’s Early Years Hubs Programme, which bring together organisations, local authorities, health and training providers and childcare settings, looking to set up their own local hub.

Launched in 2018, the Mayor’s Hubs Programme aimed to improve take-up of early education, improve quality of early education through collaboration, promote early education as a career choice and support local parents into employment. Three hubs were created in London through the programme.

The toolkit includes a collection of resources to support the social and emotional learning and wellbeing of children from birth to five, as well as tips on working with children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND), with resources created by the hubs to better support children with SEND as they transition from nursery to school.

Deputy mayor for education and childcare, Joanne McCartney said, ‘Access to high-quality early education and childcare has never been more essential. It promotes social cohesion, improves school readiness and helps close the attainment gap, while also underpinning our economic recovery by enabling parents to return to work and training. I hope this campaign helps to further highlight the support parents are entitled to, and the toolkit helps providers to improve their early years offering, so that every child in London has the best possible start to their educational journey.’

Dr Julian Grenier, headteacher of Sheringham Nursery School and Children’s Centre in Manor Park, East London, added, ‘We were delighted to be one of the Mayor’s Early Years Hubs. Working with the Mayor, we were able to help many more eligible families to access free nursery places for their two-year olds. We also worked closely across Newham to improve quality and make sure that young children with special educational needs and disabilities got the early help and support they needed. We’re pleased to see the Mayor building on the legacy of this project through the online Toolkit, which is a great resource for everyone.’

The Mayor’s office is also running a social media campaign to highlight childcare offers and entitlements to parents. A digital pack for early years providers with suggested social media posts to signpost parents to essential information about early years offers is available here.

The toolkit is here