Here are a few of my hopes for the sector during the coming year.
My first wish - that children should be allowed a sensible period of childhood - may stand some chance of becoming reality. I am firmly of the opinion that we start formal education far too early. I am therefore heartened to read that Ed Balls recognises that starting primary school at little more than four years of age - a fact under the present system for most summer babies - should be reviewed. He has taken heed of the vast amount of evidence which shows that such children are academically disadvantaged throughout their schooling, and therefore for life.
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