Oldham’s approach and commitment to high quality standards in early education is outlined in the Early Education Improvement Strategy. It is a key element of the interim Education and School Improvement Strategy.
Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Therefore, our aim is to ensure that all children receive their early years’ experience in a high quality good or outstanding provision.
Whilst EYs settings’ are ultimately responsible for their own improvement, The Childcare Act (2006) requires local authorities (LAs) to improve the outcomes of all children under 5 and reduce inequalities. Therefore, Oldham’s Learning Service work in partnership with other teams across the Council to ensure statutory early education and school improvement duties are met.
Oldham Council has engaged early education providers as partners in developing its approach to support and challenge set out in this document. The use of Ofsted outcome data and a set of agreed criteria support an assessment of risk that will inform the level of support and challenge required.
This approach to supporting and challenging early education improvement sits within the broader agenda for early years and childcare in Oldham and will be reviewed alongside key national and local drivers.