The free entitlement, it said, is aimed primarily at learning and development, and helping parents with childcare and working patterns is not the principal purpose.
It is difficult to see this commitment to children's development in recent policy decisions. Instead of spreading the free entitlement across at least three days, a young child may now be cramming 15 hours into two days in a bid to give more flexibility to suit parents' working patterns. With attendance patterns of two days separated by long gaps, a child will miss out on the continuity of relationships that help to build attachment, emotional well-being and peer relationships, as well as the chance to build on activities and develop trains of ideas.
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