Children’s commissioner calls for ‘rocket boost’ for early years services

Speaking to CYP Now, following the launch of the Childhood Commission - a Beveridge-style project to overhaul childhood experiences - Dame Rachel De Souza said: “There is no question of the importance of early years.”

• Best practice: Training targets better early years communication

• Analysis: Early child development review - emerging issues and solutions

She praised work already seen in family hubs across England and work by government to boost support for the youngest children through such provision via Family Hubs - the Growing Up Well project which will see three local authority areas receive a total of £1.2m over three years to develop solutions to improve how early years professionals collaborate and plan for families.

“We are already seeing some great work being done in family hubs and I’d like to see a rocket boost for more of that.

“I’ve also been looking at what support we can provide for health visiting and how we can create better joined up working between the two,” she added.

De Souza also said it was “crucial” to provide targeted support for women who have had babies during the pandemic. 

“It hasn’t been easy and we need to look at how we get the right support to them,” she said following the publication of a report by the Maternal Mental Health Alliance which finds that services are “struggling” under increasing demand for support.

Earlier this month, education catch-up tsar Kevan Collins said early years needed to be “central” to catch-up plans for children despite early years settings remaining open throughout the current national lockdown.

The children’s commissioner said there needed to be “some catch-up” provided for children across the board but said the social element of school and nursery for the youngest children and teenagers especially was “the key to supporting them out of the pandemic”.

“With early years children have missed out on that social and emotional development and language development as well and they have missed out learning key things at key times,” she said.

However, she added that she was “thrilled” to see all children now back at school.

“I think we need to take a step back and celebrate that moment of joy after so much lost time and lost learning.

“The first thing we need to do is get children back into school like normal, let them socialise and see their friends and go from there. I am really pleased to see socialising and adjusting to normality being included in summer [catch-up] plans”, she added.

Discussing the “huge” task of the Childhood Commission project which begins with the “Big Ask” - a survey issued to all children to capture their views and experiences of the pandemic - De Souza said there had been times “children haven’t been listened to” during the crisis.

She added that in a bid to include all children, those of school-age would be able to access age appropriate surveys through the Oak National Academy and children’s charities including four-and five-year-olds.

Families with babies will also be invited to take part via surveys, interviews and focus groups along with families of children with special education needs and disabilities, she said.

“We do want to make sure we reach all children of all ages, including those in the youth custody estate, children’s homes and on mental health wards,” she said, “But it is also important to include the youngest children who can take part either through their parents or with their parents so we have the broadest view possible of how to support children after the pandemic.”