Transcript Early Years Policy Statement
Early Years
The emerging vision for Government policy on 0-5s
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Early Years is a priority
Early Years has had attention at the highest levels of Government:
The Chancellor
Spending Review listed Early Years as a priority area for the
The Deputy Prime Minister
announced the expansion of the offer for the most disadvantaged 2 year olds as part of the fairness premium
The Ministerial Taskforce
on Childhood and Families made discussions on Early Years one of its most immediate priorities Early Years forms a key strand of the DfE Business Plan
LAs
are key to delivering high quality early years provision
Child Development is the objective
Ministers have been clear that the primary objective for the Government’s Early Years policy is to promote child development
A commitment to universal services
The Spending Review re affirmed the Government’s commitment to universal early years services
Funding to maintain a universal network of Sure Start Children’s Centres Maintained a universal entitlement to 15 hours of free early education for all 3 and 4 year olds
Targeting support at the most disadvantaged
Refocusing Sure Start on the families in greatest need Additional resource to extend the offer of free early learning to the 20% most disadvantaged 2 year olds and making this a statutory entitlement
High Quality Provision is essential
Evidence shows that only high quality provision makes a difference Ministers remain committed to a graduate-led Early Years sector, well-qualified practitioners and a developing sense of professionalism Ministers are clear that funded 2 year old places should continue to be in high quality settings as the offer becomes an entitlement
A new relationship with Government
Local Authorities empowered to make decisions in their local areas by: – Freeing up funding decisions through the Early Intervention Grant (EIG) – Ending central directives prescribing or prohibiting local practice – – – Removal of centrally imposed targets Reducing guidance and simplifying accountability Increasing transparency for local communities
Looking Forward
A short
Early Years Policy Statement
2011 will be published in Spring Alongside the policy statement, there will be a series of
materials, co-produced with people
from the sector.
Early Intervention Grant
funding starts from April 2011 Trialling
Payment by Results
during 2011-12 Dame Clare Tickell’s
review of EYFS
reports Spring 2011 Graham Allen’s
Early Intervention review
full report by May 2011
Statutory entitlement for the most disadvantaged 2 year olds
from September 2013, subject to Parliamentary approval
Questions/Issues
What do you foresee as the main implementation issues for EY work in the context of un-ringfenced budgets? How can we best make the case?
What should our priorities be for the EY sector?
What do you see as the key to getting useful sector input to the priority-setting process?
How might we most usefully define respective roles and contributions of the sector, central and local Government?