NCB Now: Improving services for young children
Monday, April 18, 2011
At NCB we know from our years of research how important early years education is to learning, and the social and emotional development of our children.
Many children's centres are on the receiving end of cuts and we hope they will see the publication of the independent review of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) on 30 March as confirmation of the significant work that they do.
The review, conducted by Action for Children's chief executive Dame Clare Tickell for the Department for Education, backed the idea of the EYFS but said that the current system was too bureaucratic and recommended that the number of goals set for young children be reduced from 69 to 17.
Sue Owen, NCB's director of practice improvement, said: "Dame Clare Tickell and her team have produced an incisive and intelligent report that takes into account the overwhelmingly positive responses they received about the EYFS, while also understanding the need to make the framework more user-friendly. Her recommendations, if accepted, should ensure that services for young children continue to improve over the coming years and that parents can be confident of their quality."
