Nursery World - Gateway to the Foundation Years

Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, looks at the importance of early intervention and gives details of a new website for parents from pregnancy to when their children reach five years old.

The last few months have seen a positive recognition of the importance of early intervention, with reports from Graham Allen MP, Frank Field MP, Professor Eileen Munro and Dame Clare Tickell all highlighting the importance of early support.

As a result we are now recognising as a nation that the first few years of life are the most important for children and families. This important and insightful work has led to the formation of the Foundation Years policy launched this week which, if successfully delivered, has the potential to place England at the forefront of its European partners in presenting a coherent approach to the provision of support for families in order to give their children the best start in life.

Over the past decade, large scale investments in early education and children’s centres have led to real increases in support for young children and their families. Increasingly, these important services are becoming seen as a key element of the architecture of support for families.

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