Be bold, Mr Secretary, free childcare for all

Abstract

FOR THOSE who missed it, Frank Field issued a report recently, Th e Foundation Years: Preventing Poor Children Becoming Poor Adults, that tackled the age-old dilemma of how to prevent the ‘attainment’ gap between children from poorer backgrounds widening compared to those from more ‘advantaged’ backgrounds. Th e report suggested many good things. He called for money to be moved to the early years, presumably away from later key stages. He called for the period from pregnancy to a child’s fi fth birthday to be termed the ‘foundation years’ with appropriate services targeted in that period  from womb to fi ve. He called for much greater prominence to be given to early years at local government level so that people better understood the importance of the learning and development that occurs in that period of a child’s life. Ultimately, the report makes clear that parental factors will play the biggest part in determining a child’s life chances, attitudes and attainment. Which makes the quality and availability of family and community services of vital importance. To quote: ‘Increased funding should be targeted at those factors we know matter most in the early years: high quality and consistent support for parents during pregnancy, and in the early years, support for better parenting; support for a good home learning environment; and, high quality childcare.’ However, given this ‘acceptance’ and even insistence that the ‘foundation years’ are crucial and should be better served at government level, it is disappointing that the report still only recommends that free childcare should begin at two. We know, without any doubt, how crucial the fi rst few years of a child’s life are, and we know what a diff erence high quality childcare can make, especially where the levels of parental support are not suffi cient; so can we really wait until a child is two-years-old, before off ering that child and even the family the help they need. Forget about attainment and future life chances for a moment, the most crucial factor must be about providing the right services of the right quality, at the time that a child needs them most, not at some arbitrary calendar date that suits the spreadsheets of government fi nanciers. We have more and more reports about the early years. Th ese tend to be well meaning, but always with one eye on the prevailing mood of the government, pussy-footing around to some extent. What we really need, no, what our children, of all backgrounds and abilities, must have, is a manifesto of intent that really says, without inhibition what services the foundation years should off er families, children and its workforce. Children’s centres must be available to all, no stigmas, no entry criteria, we must demand high quality provision, that focuses on children’s learning and development needs, not on the whims and lobbying powers of leaders of business. We need an education system that truly values children and is prepared to pay for the privilege of helping them at the start of their life’s journey. Editor Neil Henty MSc