Commenting on the Child of the North/Children With Young Lives’ call for a “fresh start for Sure Start”, through a report published today (Friday), Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"These are exactly the sort of bold, important ideas which are required to help respond to the range of needs of children and families, and boost access to the right service at an early enough stage.
"We agree the current Government commitments on family hubs are much too little, too slow. The level of ambition behind Sure Start really worked - and has been shown to have a direct link to educational outcomes as well as positive effects on wellbeing and health.
"Extra and stable staffing would be essential to co-ordinate extra services via schools - there is no spare capacity whatsoever in the school system. Currently, schools and colleges often feel they are the only service for children left standing."