EARLY EXCELLENCE: A HEAD START FOR EVERY CHILD
Summary of proposals
Nursery education was the agenda for the 1970's. It was 25 years ago that Thatcher
committed herself to universal nursery education for 3 and 4 year olds - a commitment that
was never realised. In the 1980's, childcare rose to the top of the agenda. But instead of
a comprehensive strategy to enable parents to balance work and the home, reform was
limited to tinkering at the borders of the tax and benefits system.
In the 1990's, social and economic changes in the family and in the workplace demand a
new approach. It is time to deliver on both nursery education and childcare, to meet the
needs of young children and their families as we approach the new millennium.
Services must be accessible, affordable and flexible - supporting parents rather than
forcing them to juggle with work commitments and the care of children throughout the day.
Services must be responsive - giving parents real choice, rather than expecting them to
shape their lives around the traditional pattern of public provision.
Parents are a child's first and enduring educator. Our programme is not about the
provision of support services solely for those who are in work. We aim to support all
parents and to involve them in their children's education - not to replace them by formal
provision. Many parents of young children want to spend as much time as possible with them
and we respect this; our approach is to offer them the choice to combine family and work.
We place the integration of care and education, the partnership between the family and
community at the heart of our agenda for early years services. Key proposals include:
* new Early Excellence centres - providing a practical demonstration of
integrated early years services, stimulating the development of new facilities in every
part of the country. Each centre will combine high quality nursery education and childcare
on one site, together with adult education, family support, training opportunities and
resources for local providers.
* a new partnership with parents - with health visitors supporting the early
educational development of children from day one; parenting skills taught in schools and
community education programmes; older members of the community encouraged to link up with
families to provide advice and practical support; out-of-school learning opportunities,
and home-school contracts for the early years.
* family-friendly policies in the workplace, with reform to the planning
framework to encourage employers to invest in childcare facilities for their staff.
* a new partnership between LEAs, voluntary and private sector providers,
replacing the bureaucratic voucher scheme, to plan the expansion of places. We have
already made clear our commitment to ensure high quality places to all four year olds
whose parents want it, and to set targets to extend that entitlement to three year olds.
* action to raise standards - including uniform standards for inspection and
registration, minimum space requirements in nursery settings, improved training
opportunities for all early years workers from both the education and care professions,
and a review of the SCAA desirable outcomes for children's learning.
Wednesday, 6 November 1996