Education starts here, not in the classroom

The following article was recently featured on Nursery World on 10 December 2024.

Last week, we learned about the Prime Minister’s six key milestones when he introduced his new plan for change.  

One that’s of significance to early years has been as identified as ‘giving children the best start in life’, with a proposed target of achieving 75% of reception children as being ‘school ready’. This equates to a 67.7% increase or 40-45,000 additional children making good progress against the early learning goals at the end of reception.  

These figures are based on research telling us that two-thirds of reception-aged children are struggling with speech and emerging literacy skills, as well as an increased dependency on practitioners managing independent personal care.  

It is refreshing to hear about the pledge and the urgency (the target to achieve this is 2028) and further inspiring to read about accessible integrated services for children and families, which have suffered appallingly over the last decade. Early years educators will, as they always have, continue to strive towards improved outcomes for babies, children and their families, however we also need to be pragmatic given the timescale here.  

Investment in school teachers, with a promised additional 6,500, is to be welcomed, although investment in our highly qualified early years staff, many with post-qualifying experience, would equally support the retention of dedicated staff in an overstretched sector. We should be mindful that education starts here in the earliest years, not in reception.  

It would be fantastic to see increased collaboration between integrated services for children and families, and the early years workforce. This would enable a multi-professional approach to shape care and learning environments, maximising this key milestone and the opportunities it identifies.  

There is no doubting the significance of the first 1,001 days, and specialist training around the holistic needs of babies and children is critical to the success of this key milestone.  

This is why NCFE recently developed its Professional Practice Framework (PPF). Created for those training or already employed in the early years sector, it's a free professional development guide that is engaging, dynamic and actionable – aligned to the Department for Education’s Early Years Educator criteria.  

Initiatives like the PPF are centred on further developing our already skilled and passionate early years workforce, and that’s where we need to focus if we’re to provide the best start for children and prepare them for the transition to the classroom.  

Overall, this is a positive proposal with a key focus on improved outcomes for all children. This is the workforce’s core aim and, as a sector, we must embrace this commitment and hope the government does the same.  

You can find out more about the breadth of NCFE's early years and childcare offer by clicking here.