First Early Years report highlights importance of teaching and learning in pre-school settings
3 Apr 2014 02:39 PM
Pre-school children from poorer backgrounds need
the support of professionally trained teaching staff to stop them falling
behind as soon as they reach school age, Ofsted said
today
In
its first stand-alone Early Years Annual Report, the inspectorate argues that
the pre-Reception age settings best equipped to help break 'the cycle of
disadvantage' are those focused on helping children to learn at the
earliest age.
The
report finds that the quality of provision in this sector has been rising in
recent years – 78 per cent of providers on the Early Years Register are now
judged good or outstanding.
However, barely a third of children from low income
backgrounds reached a good level of development at the age of five last year
– and in some areas it was less than a fifth.
The
report says that the current complexity and fragmentation of the sector means
that neither the inspection, regulation nor information
available about early
years are clear enough for parents to compare quality across the
different types of provision.
The
current system also fails to properly recognise the important role that schools
play in providing early years education and childcare. This is creating
barriers and ‘disincentives’ for schools that want to offer early
education and childcare for younger children to ensure they are well prepared
to start school.
Other key findings in today’s report
are:
- Choosing the most suitable early years provider is often
difficult for parents because the sector is 'complex, opaque and of
variable quality' and the information available is unclear, patchy and
inaccessible – particularly for those disadvantaged families who would
most benefit from high quality provision
- Providers in this sector need to be better held to
account for their performance, particularly when they are in receipt of public
money
- A
lack of data and standardised assessment means that neither parents, providers
nor the government are clear enough about whether children are ready for
school
- Data protection rules are currently limiting the
information Ofsted can provide to parents about registered child-minders in
their area.
In
a keynote speech to mark the launch of the report, HM Chief Inspector, Sir
Michael Wilshaw, said:
'Too many of our poorest children are getting an
unsure start because the early years system is letting them
down.
'We need a solution that is focused on the right
things. It is no good a child attending early education if, when they get
there, the provider isn’t effective. And what is most effective for the
poorest children is the opportunity to learn. I know there are those who
dislike the words ‘education’ and ‘teaching’ when it
comes to very small children. They fear that teaching the smallest children
will inevitably lead to less play and less freedom.
'Setting up play and learning as opposites is a
false dichotomy. The best play is challenging.
'What children facing serious disadvantage need is
high-quality, early education from the age of two delivered by skilled
practitioners, led by a teacher, in a setting that parents can recognise and
access. These already exist. They are called schools.'
Nick Hudson, Ofsted’s National Director for Early
Education, said:
'Today’s report is just one chapter in a
longer story about the importance of raising expectations for children from the
most disadvantaged backgrounds and communities. Ofsted’s publication in
June 2013, Unseen Children: Access and Achievement 20 years on, emphasised the
importance of the early years for breaking the cycle of
disadvantage.
'We believe that not enough is being done to support
and encourage parents, but particularly those who need the most help, to secure
for their children the benefit that the best early education and childcare can
offer.
'This report unashamedly tries to break down the
barriers between schools that teach the youngest children and the early years
provision outside of schools. But we are clear that the most successful early
years providers, whoever they are, are focused on helping children to
learn.'
The
report makes a series of detailed recommendations for a simpler, more flexible
and accountable early years system, including:
- There should be an agreement nationally on a small
number of words for different types of early years provision that would be
consistently used
- The
government should introduce a nationally comparable and standardised baseline
assessment at the start of Reception, with external marking for both the
baseline andKey Stage
1 assessments
- Schools should be given greater flexibility to support
children in their early years and be incentivised to do so – including by
removing the requirement for separate registration, regulation and
inspection for this younger age group and more recognition of school leaders
who voluntarily make themselves accountable for raising attainment on entry
through engagement with the local early years sector
- Childminder inspection reports
that are subsidised by the taxpayer should always be published with contact
details so the public can make full use of them
- The
new pupil premium for three and four-year-olds should be extended to
two-year-olds at the earliest opportunity
- Local councils that do not have enough high quality
provision should consider incentives for schools to expand their provision
either on-site or in linked provision
The
Annual Report includes tables comparing the local authorityperformance of
children from low income backgrounds in the early years.
Ofsted today also published a companion report, Are you
ready? Good practice in school readiness. This is based on visits undertaken by
inspectors to schools and early years settings to capture how the most
successful providers ensured disadvantaged and vulnerable children were better
prepared to start school.
Notes to editors
1.
Ofsted Early Years Annual Report 2012/13 is online.
2. Are you ready? Good practice in school
readiness is online.
3.
Follow the hashtag #OfstedEarlyYears to follow the social media conversation
about this announcement.
4.
Media can contact the Ofsted Press Office on 0300 013 0415 or via
Ofsted’s enquiry line 0300 123 1231 between 8.30am – 6.00pm Monday
– Friday. Out of these hours, during evenings and weekends, the duty
press officer can be reached on 07919 057 359.
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