News
Government announces expansion of free early years education for two-year-olds
11 Jun 2012
The Deputy Prime Minister has announced that two thousand more two-year-olds will be eligible for 15 hours free early years education under their new early intervention scheme which is set to become national in 2014.
The Government has asked ten more local authorities to trial the free offer from September 2013, a year earlier than originally planned. These areas are Blackpool, Cornwall, Greenwich, Kent, Lambeth, Lancashire, Newcastle, Northamptonshire, Peterborough, and Rotherham. The Government intends the scheme to support some of the most disadvantaged children and families and have said that funding will be ring-fenced under the Dedicated Schools Grant from April 2013.
The National Literacy Trust believes that supporting children early on is crucial so we welcome the support for disadvantaged two-year-olds. We also want to know what you think and we would like to hear from anyone who works in one of the pilot areas or who will be potentially delivering this offer. Get in touch with us via our early years Research and Practice Forum and let us know your thoughts.
We are also providing training and consultancy on working with two-year-olds to settings and local authorities. Email us for more information.
Read more information about the free entitlement for two-year-old's at the BBC and the Independent.
