Received from: AEP
Overwhelming evidence proves that the early years of a child’s life are critical to lifelong health, wellbeing and educational outcomes.
Congress notes:
i. continuing concerns that too many children start school with delayed language, communication and social development. Meanwhile, many children with SEND do not have their needs identified early enough to receive appropriate support.
ii. one in three children under five in the UK now live in poverty
iii. spending on early intervention has fallen substantially over the last decade
iv. early years services continue to face the effects of austerity, workforce shortages, service fragmentation and the Covid-19 pandemic
v. while welcoming the introduction of best start family hubs, funding remains significantly below previous levels of investment through Sure Start
vi. every child and family should have access to high-quality, inclusive early years services
vii. proper investment in the early years’ workforce is essential to improving children’s outcomes and reducing inequalities.
Congress calls on the government to:
a. introduce a national minimum guarantee of inclusive early years services that every family can access within their local community.
b. invest in rebuilding the early years workforce, including educational psychologists, health visitors and other qualified early years practitioners.
c. ensure children with emerging developmental needs, including SEND, receive timely identification, assessment and intervention before they start school.
d. extend the Experts at Hand programme proposed in the recent schools white paper to cover all early years’ settings, ensuring children from birth, their families and early years practitioners have access to specialist advice and support.
Association of Educational Psychologists