Narrowing the gap in early years
NCB public policy priority 2009/10
The Childcare Act 2006 and the government’s
ten-year childcare strategy introduced a range of measures to
foster improvements in the provision of childcare and early years
learning. Local authorities are now under a duty to improve the
well-being of young children and reduce inequalities in their
outcomes, and the new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), a
framework for assessing young children’s development, came into
force in September 2008.
Over the coming year, NCB wishes to promote
the value of EYFS among all political parties, local authorities,
providers and professionals, while at the same time urging
government to ensure the framework allows for a broad approach to
young children’s well-being. We also want to see further action to
develop the workforce, engage parents and promote inclusions across
all early years services.
NCB is campaigning for:
- Ensure delivery of a family-friendly childcare system that is
built around the needs of children and parents, and that is safe,
affordable, accessible and of high quality.
- Develop a broad range of indicators to measure young children’s
well-being
- Promote the play-based approach to early years care and
education embedded within the Early Years Foundation Stage
(EYFS)
- Ensure that early years settings and schools provide a seamless
transition from the Early Years Foundation Stage through the
primary curriculum for children up to the age of seven
- Enable the private and voluntary sectors to develop leadership
and workforce capability in the early years
- Encourage local authorities to undertake an early years
equality impact assessment to help them tackle inequalities between
young children in their area
More information on well-being.