Opinion: Editor's view
Liz Roberts
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Tories are showing a lack of interest in the early years
While there is still little detail about Conservative Party policy on the early years, there were further worrying signs that it would slip down the list of priorities if the Tories win the election.
Following comments some months ago that the Conservatives would 'take the foot off the early years pedal', David Willetts, shadow minister for universities and skills, claimed at last week's 4Children conference that 'excessive weight is placed on what happens in a child's early years' (see News, page 4).
This seems to fly in the face of evidence from the many studies in the UK and internationally that have found that extra money invested in the first years of a child's life can prevent far more having to be spent on remedial action later. We report this week on Demos's new report Ex Curricular (page 6), which recommends universal screening of under-fives' development and extra funding for early years work.
The UK still spends a far smaller proportion of its Gross Domestic Product on early years services than many other countries.
From Tory party pronouncements so far, however, it seems that hiring a few more health visitors is intended to solve an awful lot of problems!
Nurseryworld.co.uk
Do try to find time to visit our new website at www.nurseryworld.co.uk. It's absolutely packed with fantastic content, from news and analysis, to best practice in the EYFS, to management, careers and training.
We've gathered together some of our most popular series, including 'Child Development' by Maria Robinson, 'Observation, Assessment and Planning in the EYFS' by Helen Bromley, and 'Key People' by Anne O'Connor, so that you can easily access them in one go.
