Policies to support inclusion in the early years

This chapter has two main aims. Firstly to provide information about current government initiatives and their implications for early years practitioners; and secondly to direct the reader to sources of practical advice on the creation of inclusive early years settings.The definition of ‘early years’ used throughout is from birth to five years. The term ‘early years settings’ means settings that receive nursery grant funding and schools with nursery-and reception-aged children.Therefore, early years settings can include local authority nurseries, nursery centres, playgroups, pre-schools, maintained schools, schools in the independent, private or voluntary sectors, and even accredited child-minders in approved child-minding networks.