The Government, however, has dismissed the review and countered with a consultation on, effectively, lowering the age at which children enter reception (see News, page 5).
No surprises that its proposals go under the banner of 'parental choice', as with so many other moves that threaten to be counterproductive to children's needs. The consultation promises that schools will not be allowed to withhold a place if a parent decides that their child should start later, and that children will have free full-time places in nursery provision if an early start is not preferred. The response to both of these has to be 'Oh really?!' Parental panic about school places will dictate that children start as soon as allowed, and where on earth will the money come from to fund the alternative, given the current situation with free entitlement of 15 hours?
Meanwhile, no better prospect is coming from the blue corner of politics (see News, page 4). Shadow minister for the family Maria Miller managed to please members of the newly-formed Day Nursery Policy group with some of her remarks - the educational standards of elements of the early years workforce are a major concern. However, worryingly, Miller goes on to say that staff need to be more literate so they can teach letter formation and synthetic phonics - techniques that the 'relatively unskilled' should be able to use! And we thought that settings need well-educated staff because they understand how early literacy should be fostered.
