A government-backed commission has claimed that extending the pupil premium allocation to children in early years settings would address the issue of disadvantage at an earlier age.
The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission wants the government to allow local authorities to stretch to three and four-year-olds the use of the targeted funding for children and young people eligible for free school meals.
Making the recommendation in its report, Social Mobility – The Next Steps, the commission cites Barnardo's Mind the Gap report as highlighting the current "inexplicable" gap in funding.
The report claims the gap has been created because "targeted uplift funding" is available for disadvantaged two-year-olds and school children but not for threeand four-year-olds. The charity fears this funding gap could undo all of the work of nursery practitioners with young children.
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