News
Frank Field MP calls for 'foundation years'
17 Sep 2010
In a speech to Haileybury School on 16 September 2010, Frank Field MP, head of the Independent Review on Poverty and Life Chances, has called for a “new educational world” in which the early years foundation stage becomes the "foundation years".
The Independent Review on Poverty and Life Chances was commissioned by the Government to:
- explore how a child’s home environment affects their chances of being ready to take full advantage of schooling
- generate a broader debate about the nature and extent of poverty in the UK
- recommend potential action and other institutional changes to reduce poverty and enhance life chances for the least advantaged
- examine the case for reform of the poverty measures, for the inclusion of non-financial elements in particular
- review the existing evidence on poverty and the factors in childhood which have the biggest impact on future outcomes.
In the speech Mr Field said that “what happens to children in the first five years of life matters as much as, if not more than, what happens in schools, yet around seven times as much public money is spent on educating children in schools than on helping parents during critical pre-school years.”
Mr Field went on to propose a new approach to narrowing the achievement gap with less focus on income transfers and more emphasis placed on targeted intervention in children’s development in the early years. This new emphasis “would be concerned … with whether children have achieved the basic levels of development for a five-year-old and the home environment characteristics necessary to succeed first in school, and then later in life.”
The “basic levels of development”, Mr Field believes, that should be measured are those which make “the most difference to long-run development: social and emotional development, cognitive and language skills, communication skills and wellbeing.”
Mr Field described his vision for a “new educational world”, which his report to the government will outline. This new world will include the "foundation years", which will replace the early years foundation stage. These foundation years should be understood in the context of an educational life cycle in which the foundation years are followed by the school years and further, higher and continuing education.
Mr Field ended his speech by saying, “This isn’t rocket science. It is where hard evidence comes together with common sense. Good parenting and home learning environments matter most to young children’s eventual life chances; more than extra money and more than schools.”
See the Independent Review on Poverty and Life Chances website for the full speech.
