Early Years News December 2025

Welcome to the December newsletter from Childcare.co.uk

December is typically a busy time for early years providers so Childcare.co.uk aims to make it easier for you with a round-up of everything new and exciting in early years.

In this month's newsletter, we will discuss the new Ofsted inspection framework, latest safeguarding information and much more.

Autumn Budget 2025

What does the Budget mean for you? Here are the main points that affect childminders:

• If you have assistants, their wages may go up from April 2026. You will need to consider how you will budget for higher payroll costs, especially if funding remains the same.


• No increase to national insurance contributions – good news for everyone. You will still need to pay 6% class 4 national insurance as well as 20% tax on profit over £12,750.

Note that if you are receiving more in funding for babies and 2-year-olds, you might find that you reach the thresholds for paying tax and national insurance quicker than previously. It is important to bear in mind that, if you reach the threshold, HMRC also charge in advance in July as well as the annual payment at the end of January. You might need to save more, ready for the higher tax bills.

• The 2-child benefit cap will be abolished from April 2026 – this will allow more parents to claim universal credit or tax credits for more children. This will provide parents with more disposable income which could possibly encourage them to increase their childcare hours.


• The government will provide funding to make apprenticeships free for under-25s in small ‘enterprises’. This could offer a significant saving if you want to take on an early years apprentice.


• The DfE nutrition statutory guidance states that you should offer children water or milk to drink so the increase in ‘sugar tax’ on pre-packaged milkshakes will not affect you. However, you might want to use this as a discussion point with parents if you know children are offered high sugar drinks at home.

You will find a range of free accounting guidance on our website.

We have recently added a free budget planner for 2026.

Ofsted inspection feedback

In their new inspection framework, Ofsted say that they want to see a provider’s ‘typical day’ during inspection.

The inspector will ask you about your curriculum and teaching during the introductory video or phone call and they will follow-up on this during inspection by watching and listening as you deliver your curriculum to the children in the setting on the day. Inspection should be a time to celebrate what you do well and share your approach with your inspector as well as knowing your areas for improvement and talking about how you are working on them.

What does a typical day look like for the children in your setting? You will, of course, ensure children have regular opportunities to eat and rest or sleep and lots of activities that link to their individual curriculum and any group planning. Children might go for a daily walk to school to take older children or visit the library or park. You should be ready to discuss the flow of your day and how you support children’s learning and development through the activities you provide with your inspector.

Also note that the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) requires you to share children’s typical daily routines with parents.

Provider concerns about the new inspection grades

Providers have raised concerns with Childcare.co.uk about when funding could be withdrawn under the new Ofsted early years inspection grading system. DfE has yet to announce at which point funding would be withdrawn and this is leading to confusion in Local Authorities and provider unrest, as the new inspections have already left some settings and childminders wondering whether they will lose their funding and be in a position where they are forced to close their settings.

Childcare.co.uk has asked DfE for urgent clarification, but they have not yet replied.

Information to share with parents – toy safety

The Government has a new campaign with information you can share with parents about the risks of buying ‘fake toys’ for their children’s presents. The Fake toys, real harms campaign aims to raise awareness about the risks from dangerous counterfeit toys which fail safety tests, contain hazards like banned chemicals and pose choking and other risks to young children.

The Intellectual Property Office encourages parents to buy from trusted retailers and check the UKCA/CE safety mark on toys before purchasing – especially from over the internet.

Ofsted childminder statistics

Ofsted has reported in their latest statistics of childcare providers that the number of childminders in England continues to fall.

What does this tell us? Childcare.co.uk is committed to supporting every childminder with up-to-date guidance and training; we are doing all we can to provide information about inspection and guidance on how to comply with the latest changes to the statutory framework.

The latest data from Ofsted (pre-inspection changes) also shows that the quality of early years provision remains high, with the majority of providers graded ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. As the inspection framework has changed, this figure will be adjusted to the new grades before the next data is released.

Childcare.co.uk are always looking to do more. We constantly ask ourselves, ‘What more can we do to help every childminder stay sustainable and continue to provide high quality care and education for our youngest children?’ We add more guidance, more training, more professional development opportunities are planned in the new year. Let’s make 2026 the year that the childminder retention figures go up, not down.

EYFSP results

Childminders do not usually get involved with the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) because it is completed by teachers in reception class in school. However, the results can tell us a lot about early years education and the 2024-25 results show a small overall improvement in children achieving a ‘good level of development’ across the country.

It is areas where outcomes are low which tell us more about the work we still need to do with the children. For example, the gap is widening for vulnerable children – this comes at a time when Ofsted are focusing on inclusion through their new early years inspection framework.

The other area where children need more support is literacy – children are expected to start learning to read and write when they enter reception class and the EYFSP results tell us that we need to do more to prepare them. This means, for example, more foundational phonics skills (see Letters and Sounds phase 1 recorded webinar) and more gross and fine motor skills activities to help narrow the gap.

Artificial intelligence

Do you use artificial intelligence (AI) in your early years setting? If you do, you must be aware of the risks involved. For example, all might not be as it seems – AI can spread incorrect information and fake news. Ofsted will not judge your use of AI as a separate issue during inspection, but inspectors will look at how you use the internet safely with children in relation to, for example, safeguarding and safety, data protection, equality and children’s experiences of online use. There have also been reports of inspectors picking up devices to check whether they (and possibly children) can get online.

You might want to include comments about the use of AI in your Safeguarding Policy (if relevant to your setting) and share some tips for safe online use with parents. Ofsted has published information about how they look at AI during inspection.

Government banning plastic in wipes

The government has announced that the sale and supply of wet wipes containing plastic will be banned in the England from spring 2027, to protect rivers and seas from plastic pollution. Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are implementing their own versions of the ban, with slightly different timelines, but the overall goal of the initiative is a UK-wide ban.

This initiative is part of an effort to reduce plastic and microplastic pollution in rivers and seas caused by these wipes, which do not disintegrate when flushed. An 18-month transition period is in place to allow businesses to switch to alternatives – for example, plastic free baby wipes, cosmetic / face wipes and moist toilet tissues. Many plastic-free alternatives are already available, and you are encouraged to check for a ‘free from plastic’ label when buying wipes for your setting.

Safeguarding – parental use of cannabis

We often see questions on the Independent Childminders Facebook group from members concerned about their neighbours’ use of cannabis, because they can smell it coming into their garden and house.

Clear Minds Safer Homes is a new Kent Safeguarding Children Multi-Agency Partnership campaign that challenges the myth that cannabis is ‘low risk’, highlighting how parental use can undermine supervision, decision making and emotional availability, while also potentially exposing children to illegal activity in and around the home, including drug dealing, unsafe adults and potential police involvement.

You should speak to your Local Authority safeguarding partners if you have concerns.

Funding invoices from January 2026

From January 2026 the government rules around invoicing for funded children have changed. You must ensure you are meeting the new requirements in your January invoices.

The changes, which your Local Authority should ensure are in place by 1st January, include how invoices must be set out to clearly show parents what extras they are paying for and what is free.

For example, invoices must show:

• The free entitlement hours.

• Any additional paid hours set out in your private parent/provider contract.

• Food charges which must be voluntary.

• Activities charges which must be voluntary.

• Non-food consumables charges (nappies, wipes, sun cream) which must be voluntary.

Childcare.co.uk has further guidance on the funding fees policy page of the website.

DfE has guidance and a charging extras template.

Cyber safety

Cyber safety has been on the government agenda recently. A recent letter on cyber security encourages all small businesses to take steps to protect their data.

A significant cyber-attack targeted the international nursery chain Kido in September 2025, resulting in the theft of highly sensitive data belonging to approximately 8,000 children and their families. The hacker group released samples of the data on the dark web in an attempt to extort a ransom from the company.

The government recommend you use the free personalised Cyber Action Toolkit from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to improve security. You might also be required to have an online safety policy or risk assessment by your Local Authority safeguarding team and you must be registered with the Information Commissioners Office and follow the guidance in their data protection tips for early years settings.

Information sharing and safeguarding

Data protection legislation is not a barrier to information sharing. Sharing information between organisations is part of how we keep children safe – you might need to share information with, for example, the Local Safeguarding Partners, the child’s receiving school, nurseries or pre-schools the child attends, the police and social care etc. When we read safeguarding serious case reviews which detail why a child has died due to safeguarding, there is usually a breakdown in communication.

However, information must be handled with care and respect and only shared with those who have a right to view it – for example, when passing on information to a child’s next setting, it should not be handed to parents. Similarly, if parents ask for information from a Child Safeguarding File, you should usually ask your Local Safeguarding Partners before sharing it first. To support information sharing decisions, DfE has some useful Information sharing guidance for early years practitioners’ guidance.

ICO has also published some education-focused guidancealongside their existing 10-Step Guide to Sharing Information to Safeguard Children. The guidance aims to support early years providers with examples, to help them feel reassured that information sharing is appropriate.

Ofsted and explicit teaching

Childcare.co.uk members have reached out to ask for more information about what Ofsted mean when they talk about ‘explicit teaching’ in their new early years inspection toolkit.

In many instances, childminders say they are play settings and, while they talk about the seasons and (of course) prepare children for school, they don’t feel comfortable ‘teaching’ in an ‘explicit way because they are not qualified teachers. The curriculum topics Ofsted expect providers to explicitly teach include:

• Fundamental movement skills – the building blocks for more complex physical activities in later life. Fundamental movement skills include locomotor skills (walking, running, skipping), stability skills (balancing on one leg, walking in a line and twisting) and manipulative or object-control skills (throwing, catching and kicking a ball). They can be ‘explicitly taught during games, music and movement time and in the garden when children are playing with balls.

• Mathematics – to ensure children build a secure foundation in maths, you need to focus on key areas – for example, number, spatial awareness, pattern and connections. These are explained in more detail on the DfE ‘Help for early years providers’ mathematics pages which include lots of ideas for including early maths (numbers, spatial awareness, patterns and connections) in the curriculum.

• Emotional awareness and positive relationships – which Ofsted state, ‘supports children to develop executive function, including self-regulation, cooperation, sharing, listening to others and managing conflicts.’ I think all providers focus on this as part of school readiness, perhaps without recognising the links to executive function, as children develop positive attitudes to learning ready for school. Childcare.co.uk has recorded webinars for gold members to access which discuss self-regulation and executive function.

You will find more information in the Ofsted inspection and teaching Information guide.

Rising needs in early years children

An independent report on the rising needs in children under 5 was commissioned recently (November 2026) by the Local Government Association. The report found that councils and early years providers are consistently seeing an increase in volume and complexity of need.

The survey showed that early years settings are finding they need to put extra support in place for more children, especially around communication and interaction needs, while more children are arriving in settings with limited or no language and / or social communication needs. The report points to a number of factors influencing the change including growth in poverty, family stress and hardship, increasing neurodivergence and pandemic lockdowns.

The report has been published at a time of change to Ofsted inspection, with inclusion at the forefront of the new Ofsted early years inspection toolkit and weaving through all inspection areas.

Active lifestyles

Do the children in your early years setting move for at least 3 hours a day as advised by the Chief Medical Officer and World Health Organisation?

A new study from the University of Bristol concludes that while children move in early years settings, they are still not moving enough at home – especially girls.

How can you support children’s home learning and promote active lifestyles when they leave the setting? You might let parents know what their child has done in the setting and make suggestions for, for example, changing home routines to include a visit to the park on the way back from the setting, a walk in the woods at the weekend or an obstacle course using cushions and blankets in the home.

Prevent duty guidance - Department for Education

The Prevent duty is one of the safeguarding responsibilities which all designated safeguarding leads in settings and childminders must be aware of and comply with, as part of their safeguarding duty. Recent (April 2023 – March 2024) Home Office statistics show that over half of all Prevent referrals relate to children under the age of 18 years.

The Prevent duty was updated in 2023, to include the ideological reasons why children and young people might be vulnerable to, for example, watching violent or extremist content online or showing worrying behaviours.

Prevent duty training is available free from DfE to support your understanding of when you might need to refer concerns about a child or family.

Inspection and SEND children

There is a big focus on inclusion in the new Ofsted inspection toolkit.

Childcare.co.uk has received a lot of questions asking, ‘What if I don't have any children with SEND?’ If that's the case, you will need to talk about what you WOULD do if you had children with SEND. For example, you would:

• Ask parents for their child’s starting points.
• Baseline assess using DfE SEND assessment guidance (or other / LA documents if provided).

• Put support in place in the setting - what does the child need you to change so they can fully access your setting - your curriculum - your activities etc?
• Speak to parents, walk them through your concerns and get permission for accessing more help for their child.
• Speak to the LA SENCO - how can they help / support you?
• Make adaptations to the curriculum and your teaching as necessary.
• Use the graduated approach to record - assess, plan, do, review.

• Keep observing and assessing and adjusting / adapting to support the child.
• Complete further training / CPD as necessary.

You must be able to talk about how you have and demonstrate high expectations for every child. Childcare.co.uk has published a new inclusion blog to support you.

Ofsted and your local context

What does the Ofsted: explore an area tell you about your Local Authority (LA) ‘context’?

You will be able to find out more about, for example, the latest LA children's services inspection and LA SEND inspection, if they have been inspected recently. You will also be able to see percentages relating to children’s obesity and oral health by reception age, compared to the national average. There will also be a ‘health index score’ which includes information such as local mortality rates, mental health, wellbeing.

This information tells you, for example, what your LA needs to work on next, and it will also inform your curriculum. If, for example, local obesity or oral health figures are higher than the national average, you will want to do more as part of the curriculum with the children and share more information with parents, to reduce risks for the children in your early years setting.

What does your context information tell you?

Wear and tear – HMRC

During a recent Childcare.co.uk webinar on making tax digital (MTD) changes there were a lot of questions about wear and tear.

Many years ago, HMRC agreed that childminders could take 10% wear and tear off their gross income as part of their expenses. HMRC need self-employed providers including childminders to submit 3 figures – total (gross) income - total expenses = total to be paid for tax and NI (net).

Wear and tear is included part of the total expenses figure. Whether you are working wear and tear out quarterly for MTD or annually for your end of year submission, wear and tear is simply 10% of gross added to total expenses along with everything else you spend your money on for childminding.

Ofsted inspection feedback

Ofsted have been using their new inspection toolkit since 10th November 2025 but have informed providers who have been inspected that they are not releasing any inspection reports until January 2026. This decision makes it difficult for Childcare.co.uk to advise members on the outcome of inspections without report cards to read.

However, we have some amazing members who have provided feedback from their own inspections, which we can share with everyone. It is important to note that each inspection is unique and different lines of enquiry will take inspectors down different roads. Having said that, there are some common themes already coming through. The main feedback comment is that the new inspection toolkit is tough.

Inspectors are focusing on teaching – they are looking for 'consistency' and then they have to make a 'secure (rather than ‘best’) fit' evaluation, which means one slip can mean the difference between an ‘expected standard’ and ‘strong standard’ grade. Another comment from members relates to the length of inspections, which are typically taking longer due to the number of outcomes (inspectors seem to be using ‘secure fit’ as a tick list and then looking up or down for relevant statements), and partly because it's new for everyone including inspectors.

After inspection, providers do have the opportunity to offer Ofsted feedback and it is important this happens, to support everyone and improve inspection for the future.

Ofsted blog: what we’ve learned from the pilots

Ofsted carried out a series of pilot inspections before introducing the new inspection framework.

They have now written a blog to share what was learned.

Planning activities for December

Activities should start with the child and what they already know and can do. You can then support them to practice and consolidate their learning and introduce new ideas.

During December you might want to think about:

• Christingle – an opportunity to talk about Christian beliefs around the world.
• Father Christmas – the children might like to write a ‘wish list’ to send to Father Christmas.
• Winter – which starts on December 21st for the astronomical season.
• Role play – you might set up a ‘Santa's workshop’ or a ‘Christmas Post Office; for the children, with props, parcel wrapping and mark making materials.
• Sensory tray – set up a sensory exploration tray for all ages with a variety of Christmas themed materials and natural resources the children collect on outings.
• Books – put together a pile of wrapped books for each day in the month you are working and open them with the children, to add excitement and interest in different takes on the festive season.

Talk to parents and children – what are they looking forward to over the holidays? You can start your group planning with family input, so it is real for the children. don’t forget to share the Norad tracks Santa website with parents from 1st December and keep an eye on changes to the website through the weeks.

What activities are you planning for your early years children during December? Childcare.co.uk has a gold member group planning guide and there will be lots of information shared on the Independent Childminders Facebook group.

Upcoming free Childcare.co.uk webinars

All Childcare.co.uk webinars are free on the night they are presented. Webinars are then recorded for Childcare.co.uk gold members to watch again.

December webinars for Childcare.co.uk will cover:

• Tuesday 2nd December – Ofsted inspection areas.

A walk-through of the new inspection areas in the Ofsted early years inspection toolkit, with a focus on questions early years providers are currently being asked during inspection.

• Tuesday 9th December – Action planning for 2026.

Your Ofsted inspector will ask you to share information about your self-evaluation and action planning. This webinar will look at how you can do this and help you to decide your focus areas for the coming year.

• Tuesday 16th December – Group planning for 2026.

If you are a provider who uses group planning alongside your individual planning, this webinar is for you. We will discuss how you can plan for small groups of children through the coming year.

All webinars start at 7pm.

Look out for…

• UPDATED Free childminder organiser for 2026.
• UPDATED Free childminder diary for 2026.
• UPDATED Free childminder budget planner for 2026.

• Coming soon for 2026 ‘Monthly CPD guides’ to support your practice and help prepare you for the renewed focus on ‘self-evaluation and action planning’ in the Ofsted inspection framework.

More information and resources

Childminder Guides

Childminder Paperwork

Childminder Policies

Childminder Organiser

Childminder Diary

Childminder e-books

Childminder Budget Planner

Safeguarding Quick References Cards

COEL Quick Reference Cards

Health & Safety Toolkit

Information Sheets for Parents

Early Years Safety Blog

Activities Ideas & Resources

Childminder Insurance
 

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