Truss backs Ofsted vision for school-led early years system

Truss wants schools to work with nurseries to help them improve the quality of childcare they provide in a bid to narrow the attainment gap between poorer children and their wealthier peers.

Speaking at an event hosted by Policy Exchange, she said the system would provide a network of support throughout the education system up to 18 years old but denied that the government wants to see all disadvantaged children placed in schools at an early age.

Truss said: “It’s not about starting school at an early age – that’s not what we’re talking about.

“It’s about developing this language and social skills so that children can learn at schools.

“We want to see teachers and nurseries in the driving seat of improvement.

“As with schools, we want strong providers working with weaker providers to improve practice in a school-led system.

“We have already got a network of teaching schools but we want them to play a much larger role in the early years and we insist that they reach out to all providers."

Truss revealed that 100 teaching schools are already working with nurseries in this way, and announced that a further 20 will be taking part in the initiative. Teaching schools are designated as schools of expertise by the government enabling them to share their knowledge by supporting other providers.

She added: “In Bristol, a consortium of three nursery schools were awarded teaching school designation last year and they work closely with primary teaching schools in their area with colleagues and investors.

“The lead teachers in that organisation are drawn from the private and voluntary sector as well as nursery schools and they provide training support packages, and over 800 practitioners benefited last year, helping close the gap in early years outcomes in Bristol.”

Last week, Ofsted’s chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw called for schools to take the lead in narrowing the attainment gap between disadvantaged infants and their peers.

He blamed early years providers for failing to adequately prepare children from poorer families for formal education and said that schools were best placed to improve outcomes.