Editor's view - help is on hand for offering funded twos places

The Nursery World team is very excited to be publishing this issue of the magazine as a special guide to providing places under the two-year-olds programme and meeting the particular needs of these young children and their families.

We've enlisted the help of an impressive array of early years experts to share their knowledge and advice on best practice in caring for these two-year-olds, some of whom may be from challenging backgrounds.

Ingest the wisdom of Penny Tassoni, Anne O'Connor, Sue Chambers, Julia Manning-Morton, Vicky Hutchin and Kay Mathieson on settling in, behaviour, environments, planning, communication and language, and mealtimes.

James Hempsall, who is leading the support programme for Mott MacDonald, has contributed lots of information on business support, training and the progress of the programme's roll-out.

Our Q&A offers a comprehensive look at the nuts and bolts of the programme as it moves towards the first significant marker in September.

News is not neglected, with reports on the pilot study of free places and the findings of the NDNA business survey.

We hope you enjoy this special issue as much as we enjoyed producing it!