Opinion: Editor's view

The Commons Schools Select Committee, chaired by Labour MP Barry Sheerman, is never afraid to court controversy, and it caused a stir last week with its calls to slim down the National Curriculum and loosen the Government's grip on what is taught in schools.

The early years sector, however, will be most intrigued and heartened by the report's recommendations for the Early Years Foundation Stage (see News, page 4). On the subject of the controversial early learning goals on reading, writing and punctuation, the committee says that not only should the two goals currently under review by Jim Rose be scrapped, but so should three other related goals.

This bravura declaration stung the Department for Children, Schools and Families into revealing that it understood that Jim Rose would recommend retaining the goals in accordance with the DCSF's own opinion. 'Aspirations for what we expect children to achieve should not be lowered,' it proclaimed, adding rather sniffily that 'workforce issues should not mean that aspirations are capped'.

Many sector experts would certainly disagree with this interpretation of the Select Committee's report. It is not a question of lowering aspirations for children's achievement, but of finding the right ways to help them achieve their full potential rather than imposing strictures that can be counter-productive, resulting in a sense of failure. And while a shortage of highly-trained practitioners can exacerbate problems in this area of the curriculum, most top early years professionals believe that they are not serving young children's needs best with a rigid system of phonics and writing at too early an age.