The new Labour government has made a commitment to support the early years sector as well as launching a curriculum review. This presents us with an opportunity to revisit Labour’s 2007 Children’s Plan (DCSF, 2007) and provide insight into existing gaps in and new challenges for the current system.

Labour’s Children’s Plan set out a holistic approach for supporting families, children and young people. A key ambition was to improve outcomes for children in the early years. Since its publication, however, there have been numerous changes to the socio-political landscape, not least the disruption and devastation caused by Covid-19, and many children are still experiencing early and persistent inequality. In the UK, the disparity in educational outcomes between disadvantaged pupils (typically defined as those eligible for free school meals or from low-income households) and their peers is referred to as the ‘disadvantage gap’. This gap reflects differences in achievement, progress and opportunities. Data from the early years foundation stage profile indicate that just under two-thirds of children met the expected levels for their early learning goals in 2023 (UK Government, 2023) and there is a widening of the disadvantage gap, with children from disadvantaged areas performing 4.6 months behind their more advantaged peers (EPI, 2024). This BERA Blog special issue includes findings from a number of projects including ICICLES, ELIM-I, Larger Families Project,  HOPE Study and the Excluded Lives Project. This special issue will provide insights into the key drivers of inequality, the implications for policy and the key support factors that need to be at the heart of decision-making moving forward.

‘In the UK, many children are still experiencing early and persistent inequality.’

In their blog post, Cecilia Zuniga-Montanez and Elena Lisauskaite begin by setting the context with a comparison of early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP) outcomes before and after the pandemic, revealing areas of widening disadvantage and identifying vulnerable groups of children. Cristina McKean and Claudine Bowyer-Crane go on to emphasise the importance of early language skills, and discuss the potential for place-based approaches to embedding oral language in the early years. Sara Bonetti makes a compelling case for the importance of early education and childcare, and the need for increased investment in workforce training and better working conditions to raise the quality of early childhood education. In their blog post, Kate Lewis, William Farr and Ruth Gilbert look at the support for children with special educational needs (SEN), and suggest that better measures and frameworks are needed to assess the true impact of SEN provisions, including tailored support. Alice Tawell provides insight into the impact of school exclusion on children’s outcomes and the need for policies that focus on inclusivity and collaboration across educational and social systems to reduce exclusion. In her blog post, Kitty Stewart investigates efforts to tackle child poverty and the importance of providing adequate support to larger families. Lee Elliot Major provides a powerful argument for rethinking the current educational approach to better support all students. Sara Bonetti and Rob Newton conclude this BERA Blog special issue with a focus on school-based early years leadership and the importance of leadership training specific to early childhood in ensuring high-quality provision.

Taken together these blog posts reveal a persisting pattern of inequality that shapes children’s educational outcomes. High-quality early education is vital to address these inequalities, and never more so than in the wake of the pandemic. Moreover, a system-wide approach is needed, with collaboration from education, health and social care, to tackle the root causes of educational inequality. Importantly, this special issue not only provides an overview of the early years landscape. It serves as a call to the new Labour government to use these findings to underpin evidence-based action when developing their early years policies. Moreover, we provide specific recommendations for tackling persistent inequalities in order to improve the life chances of children and families across the UK.

References

Department for Children, Schools and Families [DCSF]. (2007). The Children’s Plan: Building brighter futures. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-childrens-plan   

Education Policy Institute [EPI]. (2024). Annual report. https://epi.org.uk/annual-report-2024-foreword-executive-summary/

UK Government. (2023). Early years foundation stage profile results. https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results