NCB brought together senior representatives from across the sector and government to discuss a shared vision to improve outcomes for babies, young children and families.
The time is now for a compelling and unified vision to deliver real and sustainable change to improve the systems that enable young children and families to thrive.
That was the conclusion of an event hosted by the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) that brought together around 100 senior leaders in the early years sector to discuss the key issues facing families today, to help to shape what a best start in life looks like and to agree what systems need to change and adapt in order to deliver that vision.
With renewed momentum within government, along with the personal interest of the Prime Minister in the early years agenda, this is a critical time to shape lasting, system-wide change, and improve outcomes for babies, young children and their families.
This is a window of opportunity and the time to act is now.
Alice Jones-Bartoli
NCB Deputy Director Education and Early Years, and Chair of the NCB Summit
The NCB Summit: A shared vision from conception to reception was held at The Abbey Centre, a stone’s throw from Parliament and next door to the Department for Education (DfE).
The event was introduced by Justin Russell, Director General for Families Group at the DfE and Chair of the Best Start in Life (BSIL) Board.
There is a real sense of momentum behind the Best Start in Life target and it’s a target that we can only deliver together as a coalition ... It’s essential that we engage with all the knowledge and experience across the sector to hear ideas, to get input and to have discussions like we’re having today.
Justin Russell
Director General for Families Group at the DfE and Chair of the Best Start in Life (BSIL) Board
Justin Russell, Director General for Families Group at the Department for Education, introduced the NCB Summit.
As part of the government's Plan for Change, it has set a target to ensure 75% of five-year-olds reach a Good Level of Development (GLD) by 2028. That's the equivalent to an increase of 45,000 children and would represent the highest ever proportion of children reaching this level of development, according to Mr Russell.
The Summit explored five central themes identified as key to turning the dial on early education outcomes, with a cross-sector mix of participants sharing their own personal and organisational perspectives. Consideration of special educational needs and disability was threaded throughout the themes, with attendees encouraged to think about young children who are more likely to find it difficult to meet the government's GLD target but should not feel any less of a priority.
The themes were:
1. Access to high-quality inclusive early education and childcare, delivered by an appropriately skilled and valued workforce
2. High-quality universal services that promote the early health and development of babies and young children
3. The right support for parents so they can help their babies and young children develop and learn
4. Nurturing good relationships and attachment with their child
5. Addressing and mitigating against poverty in the early years
The depth and range of experience and knowledge in the room was a testament to the sector’s commitment to improving outcomes for babies, young children and their families ... With the government’s renewed focus on giving children the best start in life, and a growing recognition of the importance of early years interventions, we are at a critical juncture. We are ready as a sector to work in partnership to deliver lasting and effective improvements, but we need the government to match its ambition to make early years a priority with a commitment to fund change in the Spending Review.
Alice Jones-Bartoli
NCB Deputy Director Education and Early Years, and Chair of the NCB Summit.
Alice Jones-Bartoli, NCB's Deputy Director Education and Early Years, chaired the Summit.
NCB recognises the urgency and opportunity to draw on learning from innovative long-term programmes like the Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP) and A Better Start, to support our role as a leading voice for early years policy and practice.
Based on a detailed strategic review of the early years sector and the key pieces of policy, evidence, and research that underpin it, we have published an overview of our early years strategy over the coming years, aligned to NCB’s five-year strategy Building Brighter Futures.
The Summit was attended by senior representatives from government departments, children’s charities, early years and health providers, statutory services, professional associations and funders.
The NCB Summit was attended by close to 100 senior representatives of organisations from across the children's sector.
We see early education and childcare as a gateway into many, many children’s early lives. Early educators support children’s social and emotional development, which we know are vital for their future health, wellbeing and educational attainment, as well as also building trusted relationships with parents, understanding family contexts and being a consistent presence for many… I encourage all of us to think about how we can harness the skills and commitments of all these different professionals and providers in co-producing a new operating system from the bottom up as well as from the top down.
Lucie Stephens
Associate Director of Research and Co-Production, the Early Education and Childcare Coalition
Alexie Hampson, an End Child Poverty Coalition young ambassador addressed the NCB Summit, sharing her own experiences as a young person growing up in poverty.
Alexie Hampson is one of the End Child Poverty Coalition’s young ambassadors and attended the event alongside the Coalition Manager Rachel Walters. She shared her own experiences growing up as a child with special educational needs in extreme poverty. “Most children are taught to follow their dreams, but for me it felt like an endless cycle that I would never get out of. To follow your dreams you have to be smart or have money. We never had the resources to teach me the things I needed to know [to follow my dreams] so I was left behind.”
Susie Owen, Director of Early Years at DfE, closed the Summit by telling the assembled participants that “this is a moment in time that does feel genuinely different and we need to grab it.” She said a key priority would be building “an early years system that speaks to each other and talks the same language as children and families and maximises the impact of investment”.
Susie Owen, Director of Early Years at the DfE, was one of the senior officials present in table discussions and closed the event with her own reflections.