criticises lack of early years focus in Schools White Paper
By Rachel Lawler
The has criticised the government’s for failing to focus on the early years.
The report, titled Schools White Paper, Opportunity for All, outlines the government’s plans to improve education and “make sure every child can reach the full height of their potential”.
Ambitious plans
The paper outlines ambitions to have 90% of children meeting the expected standards in reading, writing and maths by the end of Key Stage 2.
The paper also announced a number of new policies including a minimum school week of 32.5 hours, a plan to inspect every school by 2025, “at least £100m” in funding for the Education Endowment Foundation and a plan to see all schools join, or be in the process of joining, a multi-academy trust by 2030.
Early years pledges
The paper makes a few references to the early years, including an acknowledgement that work towards meeting its target to have 90% of children at the expected standard of reading, writing and maths by Key Stage 2 “must start in early years”.
In the opening letter by education secretary Nadhim Zahawi, the department acknowledges that its plans “will only be made a reality by building on a great early years education”.
The paper also later makes reference to “high quality early years provision” that will be in place for every child by 2030, “building strong foundations for the rest of their time in school”.
It also pledges to put in place “a more expert early years workforce” that is “equipped to support children through the most crucial stage of their development and lay the foundations for life-long learning”.
"Disappointing but not surprising"
Neil Leitch, chief executive of the , commented: “It’s disappointing, though sadly not surprising, that the government has opted to publish an education White Paper that focuses almost exclusively on schools, rather widening the scope and looking at the levelling-up opportunities presented by the education sector as a whole.
“While we welcome the fact that the government has recognised that “high quality early years provision will ensure children have the best possible start to their education”, the White Paper includes very little evidence or detail on how this is going to be achieved in practice.
“Calls for a long-term strategy for the early years sector have long been ignored by the government and today is no exception. The Schools White Paper is yet another example of the government’s insistence on prioritising schools over early years providers, despite a wealth of evidence showing that the best way to tackle educational attainment gaps is to invest in quality early education.
“Coupled with years of severe underfunding of the sector, this White Paper will do little to ease the worries of early years providers who understandably feel that government talk of building a great early education system in this country is little more than empty rhetoric.”