Commenting on the Sutton Trust report highlighting that three and
four year olds are being ‘locked out’ of crucial early years
opportunities, Tiffnie Harris, Primary Specialist at the
Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“This report from the Sutton Trust throws a critical spotlight
onto early years education, at a time when there has never been a
greater need for more funding as part of an overall education
recovery plan.
“It is outrageous that we have an education funding mechanism in
place that gives the young children of more privileged families a
crucial advantage over their disadvantaged peers. The mismatch
happens at the very start of their educational journey and means
a large number of young pupils arrive at primary school already
nearly a year behind children whose parents are comparatively
well off. This is fundamentally wrong on every level and needs to
be addressed urgently.
“Extending the 30 hours offer to all parents, whatever their
circumstances, is therefore absolutely the right thing to do. It
must crucially be accompanied by higher funding rates because
early years settings do not receive enough money from the
government for the 30 hours provision to balance their books.
This inevitably results in better-off parents effectively
propping up the system by paying extra fees.
“Longer-term sustained funding would also allow early years
settings to employ the graduate leaders and suitably qualified
staff that will help them address the learning gaps that emerge
early in life.”
