Following on from the low pay issue, nursery nurses in Scotland BBC NEWS | Scotland | Nursery nurses rally over poor pay earn about £13,000 per year.

This pilot project to encourage more people to work in childcare DfES, News Centre might stand more chance of success if the jobs available paid more. As many of the articles in this blog constantly remind us, low pay characterises the whole childcare sector.

This site is a little out of date but nevertheless it contains a great deal of background information to theNational Early Excellence Centres which were one of New Labour's more social democratic policy initiatives in education. You might feel, however, that given the fashion in New Labour circles for the term 'excellence' that it has become somewhat debased and devalued.