On Wednesday last week, NCB hosted a Summit that brought together close to 100 senior representatives from across the early years sector to help shape a vision for babies, young children and families from conception to reception.
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 as we approach the multi-year Spending Review on 11 June.
Read a report on the #NCBsummit
Over the next few weeks, we will share a series of insights, reflections and learnings from the Summit from some of the participants.
First up is the Chair of the Summit, Alice Jones Bartoli, NCB Deputy Director Education and Early Years:
Alice Jones Bartoli, NCB Deputy Director Education and Early Years and NCB Summit Chair
I was delighted to be asked to chair NCB’s first Early Years Summit, convened to discuss the sector’s collective response to the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change.
One of the Plan's five Missions is Breaking Down Barriers to Opportunity, underpinned by the ambition that children’s potential for future success should not be limited by their early circumstances.
Our aim was to bring together senior representatives of organisations and coalitions working to advocate for and support early years settings and services to reach consensus about the steps needed to reach the Opportunity Mission’s milestone of 75% of children reaching a Good Level of Development (GLD) by 2028.
This milestone is supported by work of the Best Start in Life (BSIL) pillar, through which the government has pledged to ensure that children and families have a safe and supportive home, access to integrated maternity and baby support services, and have a pathway to education where good quality teaching allows them to build the kind of skills they need for their future.
Crucially, there is recognition that this mission must address the impact of family poverty during a child’s early years.
Currently, 67.7% of pupils reach a GLD. Improving this to 75% would mean that an additional 45,000 children reach this important standard, which is often used as a shorthand for school readiness.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) assessment charts a child’s development across a number of important areas of development, including language and communication, physical development, personal, social and emotional development, and maths and literacy, and is assessed in the summer term during the academic year that a child turns five.
We know that the impact of inequality is evident very early, and predicts overall attainment of GLD, with poorer metrics amongst children who are living in poverty, and for those with an Education, Health and Care Plan. School readiness is a consistent predictor of academic performance and later life outcomes. (Evidence: Risk of not being in employment, education or training (NEET) in late adolescence is signalled by school readiness measures at 4–5 years | BMC Public Health)
However, improvement is not without precedent. In 2019, almost 72% of children were meeting this target, following year-on-year increases. These steady gains were undoubtedly impacted by COVID-19 and the subsequent cost-of-living pressures.
We know that there is considerable variation across local areas, due largely to the relative levels of poverty. While there is broad support across the sector for the government’s ambition, questions remain about how success will be measured beyond the overall GLD milestone.
Concerns and questions have also been raised about children who are not expected to meet the milestone (for example, some of those with disabilities or additional needs), and that the 2028 ‘deadline’ de-prioritises the first 1,000 days and instead focuses on those children who are already two years old.
The NCB Summit brought together senior representatives from children’s charities, early years and health providers, statutory services, professional associations and funders, as well as senior colleagues from DHSC, DfE, DWP, and the Cabinet Office.
We wanted to capitalise on the clear momentum within government to create a positive narrative around children and families in the early years, and to set out a unified vision for the early years that leverages current Government interest in raising the healthiest generation ever.
Collectively, we are keen to be involved in developing the scope and delivery of a cross-government Best Start in Life strategy. Our aim is to find consensus on the steps needed to increase the number of children reaching the GLD milestone, without losing our focus on narrowing inequalities for all children. Attendees fed into conversations on five priority areas, with scene-setting provided by representatives of key coalition and convening groups:
- Access to high-quality inclusive early education and childcare, delivered by a skilled and valued workforce.
- High-quality universal services that promote early health and development.
- The right support for parents to help their babies and young children develop and learn.
- Nurturing good relationships and attachment.
- Addressing and mitigating against poverty in the early years
We were especially pleased to welcome Justin Russell, Director General for Families at the Department for Education and Chair of the Best Start in Life Board to give the opening address of the Summit, clearly outlining the work that the government has committed to and its desire to create a sustainable early years system that promotes healthy child development long beyond 2028.
We hope this Summit will be the first of many, as we bring together a powerful cross-cutting network of organisations committed to prioritising action in the early years that will shape and deliver a shared vision from conception to reception.
