Nursery World - Early years settings 'benefit children'

Any form of early years setting is better than none at all for young children's intellectual and social development, according to a major report from the Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE) Project. The report, Measuring the impact of pre-school on children's cognitive progress over the pre-school period, published last week, said the quality of early years provision is directly related to children's intellectual and social development. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds particularly benefit from good-quality provision. The report found that it made no difference to children's development if they attended a setting full-or part-time, but those who started earlier showed a corresponding improvement in intellectual development, independence, concentration and sociability.

The report, Measuring the impact of pre-school on children's cognitive progress over the pre-school period, published last week, said the quality of early years provision is directly related to children's intellectual and social development. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds particularly benefit from good-quality provision. The report found that it made no difference to children's development if they attended a setting full-or part-time, but those who started earlier showed a corresponding improvement in intellectual development, independence, concentration and sociability.

Professor Kathy Sylva, who led the team and works at Oxford University and the University of London, added that the benefits were more marked as the children grew older. 'The more terms of it the better, especially after the age of two,' she said.

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