Best Start in Life is here to support you and your child from pregnancy through to starting school. Whether you are preparing for your baby’s arrival, navigating early years development, or getting ready for their first day in childcare or reception, this resource is designed to help you feel informed, confident, and supported.

Being a parent is full of joyful moments, but it also comes with natural questions and concerns. That is why Best Start in Life brings together trusted guidance, practical tips, and useful tools in one easy-to-access place. It is your go-to website for everything from health and wellbeing to childcare and early education.

Explore the Best Start in Lifewebsite for resources and information.
Sign up for emails and the Best Start in Life newsletter for regular updates and guidance.
Check a breakfast clubs map to see if your child’s school offers free breakfast club.
Find out how you can save money on early education and childcare with the online childcare support checker.
Follow @DfE and @DHSCgovuk on social media for news and tips.

Visit BestStartInLife.gov.uk today, to access support every step of the way.

Christmas working arrangements

Cambridgeshire County Council operates 365 days a year, ensuring that essential services are maintained and vulnerable people, of all ages, are protected.

During the Christmas and New Year period, the following Child and Family Centres will remain open, on days which are not bank holidays, 10 am to 4 pm, to families over the Christmas period:

Ely Child and Family Centre, East Cambridgeshire.
Cambourne Child and Family Centre, South Cambridgeshire.
The Fields Child and Family Centre, Cambridge.
Oasis Child and Family Centre, Fenland.
Broad Leas Child and Family Zone, Huntingdonshire.

Libraries open, St Ives, Histon, Soham, March, and Rock Road, on the following days in December:

Wednesday, 24, until 1 pm.
Thursday, 25, closed.
Friday, 26, closed.
Saturday, 27, from 10 am to 4 pm.
Sunday, 28, from 10 am to 4 pm.
Monday, 29, from 10 am to 4 pm.
Tuesday, 30, from 10 am to 4 pm.
Wednesday, 31, from 10 am to 4 pm.

All other libraries will be closed.

Cambridge Central Library:

Thursday, 25, closed.
Friday, 26, closed.
Saturday, 27, from 10 am to 5 pm.
Sunday, 28, from 12 pm to 4 pm.
Monday, 29, from 9.30 am to 5 pm.
Tuesday, 30, from 9.30 am to 5 pm.
Wednesday, 31, from 9.30 am to 5 pm.

Christmas online safety checklist for families

Keep the holidays merry and safe online.

With 13 million people receiving smartphones for Christmas each year, it is important that we are all safe when playing with new kit.

Two adults with a baby looking at a computer

1. Secure new devices:

• Set up parental controls before use – Learn your way around the technology. Make sure to

disable ‘In-App’ purchases.

• Enable strong passwords and automatic updates.

2. Check privacy settings:

• Parental controls and privacy settings guides | Internet Matters

• Turn off location sharing.

• Limit who can see posts or profiles.

3. Think before you share:

• No personal information, address, school, telephone.

• Be careful with holiday photos – avoid showing gifts or home details.

4. Stay safe in online games:

• Start slowly, download games and apps that a parent has checked out. – Common Sense Media: Age-Based Media Reviews for Families | Common Sense Media.

• Never share personal info in chat.

• Report and block anyone who makes you uncomfortable.

• Stick to age-appropriate games.

5. Watch out for scams:

• Fake giveaways and links are common – ask an adult before clicking.

6. Balance screen time:

• Agree on limits for gaming and social media.

• Enjoy offline fun too – board games, crafts, family walks.

7. Keep talking:

• If something feels wrong online, tell a trusted adult.

• Review safety rules together during the holidays.

Visit the following websites for support: saferinternet.org.uk, and internetmatters.org .

Christmas HAF Programme

The Cambridgeshire Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme starts on Monday, 22 December 2025, and runs until Friday, 2 January 2026.

Please display the HAF Christmas 25 Parents Poster* on your settings noticeboard. *Size: 1,635KB File format: pdf

Eligible pupils can access up to 16 hours of funded holiday scheme and family experiences during the Christmas Holidays HAF programme. A daily meal and participation in enriching experiences with peers are offered.

Bookings opened on Monday, 10 November 2025, and eligibility vouchers were emailed and sent by text to families in receipt of benefits-related free school meals.

School staff can request a booking code via the Christmas 2025 HAF Booking Code Request - Professionals Only – Check the website for additional eligibility criteria details.

For further information, please contact the HAF Team HAF@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

Apply to become an Early Years Stronger Practice Hub

Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs help early years settings and childminders adopt evidence-informed improvements, promote system leadership, and build networks for sharing effective practice.

As one Hub explains: "It is a privilege to be an Early Years Stronger Practice Hub working with an incredible workforce helping to connect practitioners with the support, evidence and community they need to thrive. We work to bring people together, share what works, and help strengthen practice in ways that make a real, lasting difference for children across our region."

There are currently 18 hubs across England, and in line with the Best Start in Life strategy, we are expanding. Applications are invited from group-based and school-based providers with strong leadership and a drive for excellence.

Apply by Friday, 16 January 2026. More details and the application link at Early years stronger practice hubs - GOV.UK.

Application questions? Email EYSPH.applications@education.gov.uk.

Register for the applicant webinar via Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams.

Recruitment and retention toolkit

The Department for Education has developed a recruiting and retaining your workforce toolkit, designed to support those involved in delivering free breakfast clubs and wraparound childcare.

This includes local authorities, schools, including early adopter schools offering free breakfast clubs, and private, voluntary, and independent childcare providers.

The toolkit contains a variety of practical resources, such as tools, templates, and tips to aid recruitment and retention in free breakfast clubs and wraparound childcare settings.

Attachment in the early years

With the Government’s expanded childcare offer in full momentum, early years settings are busier than ever. Amidst the routines, activities, and assessments, it is easy to lose sight of the

deeper threads that hold our practice together. But at the heart of everything we do lies something fundamental: attachment.

From birth, children’s brains are wired through relationships. Secure attachments help build the neural pathways that support emotional regulation, resilience, and social skills.

Children who feel safe and secure are more confident to explore, play, and engage, take risks, solve problems, and interact positively with others.

Challenging behaviour often stems from unmet needs. Understanding attachment helps us respond with empathy and understanding, recognising the child’s need for connection.

The key person approach is central to supporting attachment. A consistent adult who knows the child well can:

Offer comfort and reassurance during transitions.
Tune into children’s emotional cues.
Build trust through predictable, nurturing interactions.

This relationship becomes a secure base from which the child can explore the world.

Learn more about why attachment matters at CambsEYC blogs.

New oral health resources

Following on from the launch of CambsEYC Physical Development in the EYFS resources within the Quality Improvement section of the Learn Together website, we are delighted to

share with you our new Oral health webpage.

This dedicated content will provide you with good practice examples and advice to ensure you deliver the best early years practice in your settings related to children’s oral health. It will also help you meet your statutory requirements and good practice principles.

We have collaborated with our colleagues the Oral Health Improvement Team to ensure that the information you can access on the page is dependable in terms of good early years practice and is evidence and research based.

We hope you enjoy exploring our new Learn Together page for Physical Development and we look forward to publishing further guidance related to children’s physical activity soon.

Forest School end of year reflection

CambsEYC is proud to promote our innovative approach to outdoor learning and Forest School.

Our vision is for every child and young person in

Cambridgeshire to have access to regular and ongoing child-initiated outdoor experiences following the Forest School ethos.

As part of our ethos, we will regularly reflect on our training content and delivery. If you could please spare 10 minutes to complete our Forest School in Cambridgeshire End of Year Reflection 2025 questionnaire, which will allow us to continually develop training that reflects the needs of staff and educators throughout Cambridgeshire.

In 2026, we are going to be having special guests delivering outdoor yoga and tree net installation at our Forest School Networks – please keep an eye out for these exciting events.

Be Winter Wise

The Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) ‘Be Winter Wise’ campaign shares practical advice, local support, and simple actions that help

everyone in Cambridgeshire stay safe, warm, and healthy this winter.

CCC are running #BeWinterWise alongside our ‘Working For You’ campaign, which celebrates the services, outcomes, and people making a difference across the county. Together, the two campaigns show how CCC are supporting residents through the colder months, while highlighting the real impact of your work.

Let us make this winter a little easier, warmer, and more caring for everyone in Cambridgeshire. Please help spread the word by sharing the #BeWinterWise campaign on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Talking Together: parent and practitioner resources

Talking Together in Cambridgeshire (TTiC) has recently refreshed its website to make it easier for you to explore TTiC resources.

You can now find dedicated Parent resources and Practitioner resources, each designed to support your needs more effectively.

For example, Rhyme time for all, a multilingual nursery rhyme collection, helping to celebrate language diversity – featuring ten popular rhymes translated into 15 languages: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Farsi (Persian), French, German, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Urdu.

To learn more about TTiC's work and the free resources available, visit the Talking Together in Cambridgeshire on the Learn Together website.

Communication, language, and literacy training courses

To help support families with young children aged birth to five, nurture their children's communication, language, and literacy development, these upcoming courses running from January to February 2026 are designed to deepen your understanding:

Talking Tennis: Building on our interactions with young children. Monday,19 January 2026, and Monday, 2 February 2026 at Oasis Child and Family Centre, Wisbech, from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm.
Speech and Language UK's Early Talk: Supporting communication and language. Tuesday, 20 January 2026 at Sunley House, Papworth Everard from 9.30 am to 4 pm.
Hanen's Teacher Talk Module 1: Encouraging language development in early childhood settings. Monday, 26 January 2026 at St Ives Library from 10 am to 5.30 pm.
An Introduction to Making it REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy). Thursday, 12 February 2026, at Ely Library from 10 am to 5 pm.

To learn more about each of the courses, including costs of places, please visit the Communication, language, and literacy section of ourProfessional Development Programme. Please note, free training places are available on each of the courses above for those working with us through the TTiC Community Outreach Service.

Making it REAL: SEND resources

A special Making it REAL approach, which has already reached over 500 families with children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), is now available nationally.

Originally funded as part of Early Years SEND partnership run by the Council for Disabled Children, the programme is based upon the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), evidence based Making it REAL training programme – delivered in over 80 local authorities, including Cambridgeshire: Introduction to Making it REAL.

The programme, delivered by the NCB Early Childhood Unit, is a combination of exciting and developmental Special Treasure Chests and workshops for families and practitioners led to excellent outcomes.

Free activities and vodcasts are available at Special Making it REAL.

If you would like to find out more about the programme and opportunities for your area, please contact ECUAdmin@ncb.org.uk.

SEND reform national conversation

The Schools White Paper will be published early next year and will set out our proposed reforms to the SEND system. Building on extensive

engagement over the past year, the Department for Education (DfE) has launched a national conversation on SEND reform.

DfE wants to hear views, experiences, and insights from as many people as possible in the coming months. The national conversation encourages everyone from parents to those working in schools, colleges, and early years to get involved and help build a consensus on what works to help deliver lasting reform. Every voice will help shape the system our children and young people deserve.

This will be followed by a period of formal public consultation and further engagement following publication of the Schools White Paper early next year.

You can get involved by joining online events and submitting your questions on the key principles guiding SEND reform. You can attend as many as you like. Sign up at SEND Reform National Conversation - Online Series | Eventbrite.

Please feel free to contribute ideas and feedback directly at

gov.uk/DfE/SEND-conversation.

Free ROMLIT training

The University of East Anglia (UEA)’s ROMLIT are offering two free training sessions in January 2026 for early years practitioners, including

wraparound colleagues, early years private, voluntary, and independent (PVI) settings colleagues, childminders, and all early years foundation stage school staff.

Here are a few of the highlights from recent training:

“Excellent session, offering lots of in-depth information, challenging current perspectives and supporting inclusion moving forwards.”
“Really insightful to hear from a member of the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller community. Information, activities, and plenty of time for questions and reflections made this course enjoyable.”
“I'm not sure of any other course I have attended that has been so influential as this.”
“Having all three trainers who had direct links and experiences of the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller community was the most valuable aspect of the training and not something that could be easily replicated.”

To book a free place and learn more, visit Booking and reservations for Early Years Workforce Development, 'Equalities and Inclusion.'

Have you ever considered becoming a foster carer?

Do you know a parent or carer, colleague, friend, or family member who could offer a safe, secure, loving home to a child or young person?

There are children and young people in Cambridgeshire right now who can no longer live with their birth family, and CCC needs your help to recruit more foster carers so that the children and young people in our care can stay in the local area.

CCC welcomes enquiries from anyone who is over 21, can provide a spare bedroom, and is dedicated to changing a young life for the better. It is all about the match of the child to the foster carers. The children and young people in care come from a diverse range of backgrounds, and CCC look for the same in their foster carers.

Please email your referrals to fostering@cambridgeshire.gov.uk, and one of the friendly recruitment officers will contact them.

With your help, CCC can provide more children with the love, security, and support they need and deserve.

To find out more about fostering, visit the Fostering & Adoption webpage or telephone 0800 052 0078.

You do not need a biological nuclear family to have magic

Multi-award-winning comedian Kiri Pritchard-McLean shares an unexpected and deeply personal journey that led to becoming a local authority foster carer in this BBC Radio 4 - Comedy of the Week, half-hour special, recorded in front of a live audience.

This heartfelt and inspiring programme, first broadcast during Foster Care Fortnight, shines a spotlight on the extraordinary power of ordinary people to make a difference. Kiri lifts the lid on the system and offers a moving, candid, and funny account of what it truly means to open your home - and your heart - to a child in need.

Kiri Pritchard-McLean with a gold microphone

Your News

As the end of another year approaches, we would like to thank you for the amazing job you do supporting our children in Cambridgeshire to achieve the best start in readiness for their next stage of development.

We would like to wish you all a happy and peaceful holiday season.

Share your good news with CambsEYC

Contributions for News Round-Up should be between 150 and 300 words and include a high-resolution image. All photographs must have parental permission to publish for any children shown. The editors reserve the right to edit articles for length and content to meet the audience's needs. Please submit your news items to eycinfo@cambridgeshire.gov.uk.

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Early Years, Childcare, and School Readiness Service (CambsEYC)

News Round-Up

December 2025

Supporting families every step of the way.

Christmas working arrangements.

Christmas online safety checklist for families.

Christmas HAF Programme.

Apply to become an Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs.

Recruitment and retention toolkit.

Attachment in the early years.

New oral health resources.

Forest School end of year reflection.

Be Winter Wise.

Talking Together: parent and practitioner resources

Communication, language, and literacy training courses.

Making it REAL: SEND resources.

SEND reform national conversation.

Free ROMLIT training.

Have you ever considered becoming a foster carer?

Your News.

Supporting families every step of the way

Christmas working arrangements

Christmas online safety checklist for families

Christmas HAF Programme

Apply to become an Early Years Stronger Practice Hub

Recruitment and retention toolkit

Attachment in the early years

New oral health resources

Forest School end of year reflection

Be Winter Wise

Talking Together: parent and practitioner resources

Communication, language, and literacy training courses

Making it REAL: SEND resources

SEND reform national conversation

Free ROMLIT training

Have you ever considered becoming a foster carer?

You do not need a biological nuclear family to have magic

Your News

As the end of another year approaches, we would like to thank you for the amazing job you do supporting our children in Cambridgeshire to achieve the best start in readiness for their next stage of development.

Share your good news with CambsEYC

Stay connected with CambsEYC online