In the letter Ms Siddiq asks why ‘two directly contradictory press releases about this plan were sent out embargoed yesterday, with the first stating that early years providers would be included in the plan and the subsequent “correction” stating that they wouldn’t.’
‘Can you confirm whether or not this funding for early years was withdrawn at the last minute, and explain why you have decided to exclude early years from these "catch-up" plans? You will be aware that early years staff have been working incredibly hard to support children who have been missing out on the early education they provide during lockdown, and they deserve an explanation for why the Government feels that they do not deserve the same financial support for this as schools.’
‘I would urge you to consider the impact of this decision on social mobility. It is in the early years of a child’s life when high quality educational support can make the biggest difference to their life chances. We know that the poorest children start primary school 11 months behind their more affluent peers, and that this gap is likely to have widened in the Covid-19 crisis. Ensuring that children can get high-quality early education is a vital part of the work that nurseries, childminders and other early years providers do, which is all too often overlooked. I fear that the decision not to include them in educational catch-up plans could irreparably damage the prospects of disadvantaged children.'
All schools back in September
Meanwhile, asked during the daily Downing Street press briefing why early years and FE colleges had been led to believe they would be included in a share of the funding and then cut out of it, education secretary Gavin Williamson, said, ‘[The] Hungry Little Minds scheme is a great scheme to really encourage the early educational development of those early years children. We want to look at other ways that we can continue to support that sector, how we can help parents, but most importantly how we can help children.’
The education secretary also said that the Government would get all children back in schools in September, echoeing remarks made by the prime minister on a visit to a primary school on Friday. Boris Johnson said, 'I want every child, every pupil, every student, back in September. I’m sure it can be done.'
Mr Williamson said at the briefing, ‘We will bring all children in all year groups back in September.’
Ministers will drop class-size bubbles of 15 to allow 30 children in a class, so that all children can return to school full-time in England.
'We’ve been creating bubbles of children in the classroom, creating a protective environment for those children. Currently that is at 15 – what we would be looking at doing is expanding those bubbles to include the whole class,' Mr Williamson said.
He added that more guidance would be published for schools in the next two weeks so ‘schools have the maximum amount of time to prepare for the next phase of welcoming children back’.
