Early years focus is right but it needs proper investment

An Observer editorial hails the recent Sutton Trust early years report, Sound Foundations.

The education minister, Elizabeth Truss, has written to all local authorities in England asking them to encourage schools to take two-year-olds in on-site nurseries to combat the acute shortage in childcare. A recent report by the thinktank IPPR revealed that since 2008 the number of childcare centres offering a full day for a child has halved. In addition, sharply rising costs and the cuts to working tax credit have meant that half-a-million mothers have been forced to give up work.

The coalition, in a pilot, has given 49 schools, £10,000 each to provide care for toddlers. An excellent report, Sound Foundations, for the Sutton Trust, published last month, has pointed out the weaknesses in the government’s approach. The report begins with the declaration: “The first three years of life are a period like no other.” This is because of the phenomenal growth in brain development and the huge opportunities to develop speech, communication and trigger positive and inquisitive play.

Read the full article here.