Keir Starmer’s Plan for Change

Rather than ‘ready for school’, the route to improving children’s outcomes is better investment in the early years sector.

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Commenting on the Prime Minister’s target for this Parliament on school readiness, Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: 

"It is laudable to want to enable all young children to have good early childhoods, but the barriers to this at the moment are many, including poverty and the impact of Covid. 

"Early education staff and nursery teachers are worried about the gaps in services for those with speech and language issues or health needs. Successful reception into school or nursery year is the right goal but targets around the idea of ‘school readiness’ are not actually helpful. 

"Early education is a crucial time in a child’s education, and it has specific teaching practices such as the vital role of learning through play and exploration. Talking about children as ‘ready for school’ or not, is hurtful to children and their families and we’d rather see detail about support and capacity building. We need many more health visitors, for example. 

"Better investment into the early years sector is the route to improving children’s outcomes. It’s clear that Maintained Nursery Schools (MNS) deliver the highest quality of early education, but continue to face the threat of cuts and closure. Their future must be protected and their brilliant expertise included in early years policy." 

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