21 August 2005 - Ofsted’s good news and bad news Several thousand childcare providers have been judged to be ‘unsatisfactory’ at ensuring the protection of children in their care. One in a hundred providers were ‘unsatisfactory’ and the remainder ‘satisfactory’. Almost half of England's 105,000 childcarers, nurseries and crèches have been given the highest possible mark by Ofsted. Some 48% were graded ‘good’ on overall childcare, which includes safety, catering and promoting positive behaviour. Ofsted boss David Bell said some "truly inspirational" work was going on in nurseries and homes of childminders. He added: "Parents can be assured that the vast majority of childcare providers in this country are doing a good job in keeping children safe and preparing them for life at their 'big school'. "As I've said before, the first four or five years of a child's life are very important in preparing them for school, for work and for life, so it's of paramount importance that we have a healthy childcare sector." Mr Bell also said: "I would like to see good practice become common practice in all childcare settings." The report - Early Years: Firm Foundations - shows that childcare providers are strongest at managing children's behaviour, with 68% judged as good. Food and drink standards reached this level of quality in 56% of cases and safety against accidents in 53%. However, the proportion deemed good fell to 35% when it came to ensuring child protection from outside dangers, such as abuse, with 3% unsatisfactory. Ofsted carried out inspections between April 2003 and March this year and has recently started publishing the results online. There are around 1.5m registered childcare places in England Reference www.bbc.co.uk/news 17 August 2005 - Rooker will tackle play funding crisis Northern Ireland's children's minister has intervened in the province's play funding crisis less than a week into the job. Campaigners have warned that scores of out-of-school clubs are being closed due to a cash shortfall caused by the end of EU funding (Children Now, 1-7 June). Marguerite Hunter Blair, chief executive of Playboard, said following the appointment of Lord Jeff Rooker, the charity had received enquiries from the Government asking it to clarify its figures for keeping schemes open. Following his appointment last week, Rooker criticised the closure of playgroups, describing the £500,000 needed to prevent the situation as "chicken feed". Hunter Blair said she was optimistic about the funding situation, which has led to the loss of 1,000 of Northern Ireland's 14,000 after-school places. She said she would also urge Rooker to tackle child poverty, pointing out that if targets were in place, Northern Ireland would need another 30,000 after-school places. Rooker, who is also Northern Ireland's finance minister, plans to establish and chair a ministerial children and young people's subgroup committee. He also intends to establish a children and young people's forum and play a key role in implementing the children and young people's strategy for Northern Ireland, which should be published in October. Source: Children Now