The Latest Breaking News from Sure Start

Naomi Eisenstadt, first programme lead, says there is lack of attention on what childcare is actually for

"At the end of the day it does take a village to raise a child, and Sure Start was our village in our time of need."

If we get those early years right, we can avoid so much harm later in life. So why don’t we properly support parents?, says Beverley Barnett-Jones of Nuffield Family Justice Observatory

The shadow education secretary is determined to put childcare reform at the heart of Labour’s policy – and stop Jeremy Hunt stealing her thunder

Letters: David Blunkett says the chancellor has distorted the truth about childcare in his budget statement, while Tony Roberts says the Tories have always misunderstood the importance of early years provision. Plus letters from Margaret Varley and Ursula Shone

Letters: Anne Johns bemoans the disappearance of au pairs, Anne Tyndale hopes for a return of Labour’s Sure Start programme, and Alice Schofield on affording childcare for twins

Pen Green nursery’s plight shows why Labour again needs the radicalism of Sure Start, says the Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said it was time for a complete overhaul of the 'complex and confused' childcare system - and said 'bolting on' more hours would not fix it

Terri Loughman, 39, wants to share her story to provide hope to other women

We know longer sentences do more harm than good. Let’s focus our resources on threadbare public services instead, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

Isolation, exacerbated by social pressure and cuts to services, can lead to postnatal depression, says Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett