In response to Dame Clare Tickell's recommendation, the Government will also review the right ratio of staff to children in reception classes, including identifying and sustaining best practice. The outcome of this work will inform consideration of additional guidance or good practice as part of the wider work to support the sector with implementation of the revised EYFS.
The proposals are set out in Supporting Families in the Foundation Years - a joint document between the Department for Education and the Department of Health - aimed at local authorities and professionals, which sets out plans to reform early years education and the workforce.
A second document aimed at parents, Families in the Foundation Years: From Pregnancy to Five, sets out the services that should be available for parents and families, from expectant mothers to pre-school children.
A Families in the Foundation Years website for parents has also been launched today, developed by 4Children, and part-funded by the Government, and a new website for professionals will go live in the autumn.
Supporting Families in the Foundation Years is also the Government’s official response to Frank Field’s poverty review, the two reports by Graham Allen on early intervention, and the Tickell review of the EYFS.
Children’s minister Sarah Teather said that the Government was adopting the term the Foundation Years ‘to raise the status of this time of life’, and in response to calls from Mr Allen and Mr Field to adopt the phrase to highlight the importance of these years in underpinning later achievement and well-being.
Ms Teather said, 'Parents are the most important influence in a child's life. The experiences of children in their earliest years, good or bad, can shape their future life chances for years to come. That's why we want to support families to bring up their children and raise the status of the foundation years.'
Public health minister Anne Milton said, ‘All the evidence indicates that the early years play a significant and formative role in shaping your health, wealth and happiness for the rest of your life. That is why we need to focus on this.
By increasing numbers of health visitors and extending the Family Nurse Partnership we want to offer the support that families need right through pregnancy and the early months and years of life.
The new national Health Visitor Taskforce will provide strong leadership and ensure the new health visiting service model is universally adopted by 2015.’
Former health visitor Dame Elizabeth Fradd will chair the taskforce, she said.
The wide-ranging policy document states that the Government will promote a diverse early education and childcare sector and proposes a new ‘covenant’ setting out how the DfE, local authorities and early education providers work together.
Chapters in the document cover:
- why the Government is focusing on child development and what is needed for children to be ready for school;
- parents and families at the heart of services in the Foundation Years;
- the importance of intervening early;
- skilled professionals;
- and outlining a new relationship with the sector, with the Government continuing to work in co-production, so that practitioners, leaders and commissioners are involved in the early stages of policy development. Professionals will also have more freedom from bureaucracy and more flexibility in local areas to design services to meet the needs of families and improve outcomes for children.