Children's needs can be identified by high quality childcare

A new report has highlighted the fact that good quality childcare can help to identify the needs of vulnerable children such as those with disabilities and speech impairments very early on in their development.

The report which was carried out by Ofsted, visited 25 childminders, nurseries and children's day centres in England who had previously been rated as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in their inspections system.

The report found that the main contributors to high quality childcare provision were regular observation and close collaboration with families.

An Ofsted chief inspector indicated that the best childcare can prove to be a massive boost for children in need, identifying their needs early and therefore leading to collaborative support from parents and those in health, education and social care services.

The Ofsted report also pointed to the fact that good qualifications and experience of early years childcare staff was vital in order to deliver high quality childcare.

As well as those groups of children indicated above, vulnerable children can also include those children in foster care, waiting for adoption and those children being protected by child protection plans.