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Jayne Coward, Deputy Director for Early Years Regulatory Policy and Practice

Jayne is the Deputy Director for Early Years Regulatory Policy and Practice. She joined Ofsted in 2006 initially working as an early years inspector. Since then she has held a number of leadership posts within the organisation including early years HMI and most recently early years SHMI for the North East, Yorkshire and Humber region. She has experience of inspecting a wide range of early years provision including registered early years settings, children’s centres and initial teacher education. Jayne has extensive experience as an early years practitioner and had worked as a local authority adviser. She led on the development of a range of early years initiatives including the development of children’s centres and the implementation of the early years foundation stage.

Applying to register with Ofsted: what you need to know

Text reads: 'Blog post - How we look at the use of Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) in our inspections of early years settings' Next to this, children are sat on chairs in a nursery setting.

Whether you’re thinking about registering with Ofsted or are in the process of submitting your application, this blog post aims to help you understand the registration process and the actions you need to take. Before you begin your application, you …

New changes for childminders coming soon

An image of three young children wearing aprons and playing with dough, with an adult woman standing behind them. Next to it, text reads: "Blog post - New changes for childminders coming soon".

In May, we published a blog about the upcoming changes for childminders this autumn.   The Department for Education is now bringing in these changes on 1 November 2024 to give the early years sector (in particular childminders) more flexibility. These …

The Holiday Activities and Food programme – when you need to register with Ofsted

Children and an adult playing outside

The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme is funded by the Department for Education (DfE). The aim of the programme is to help families with enrichment activities and food for children throughout the holiday periods. The programme is for children …