More graduate teachers would be parachuted into nurseries under plans being considered by Labour to boost education for the under-4s, the Guardian has learned.
More nursery places could be introduced in primary school settings too as part of the opposition’s proposals to drive up standards and formally integrate early years in England into the education system.
Experts have long argued that nurseries should employ degree-level early years teachers, alongside other staff, to help toddlers develop skills including speech and language before they start primary school.
Currently, nurseries struggle to recruit and prevent staff leaving for higher wages in retail jobs, forcing some childcare settings to close.
The shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said she wanted to put early years on an equal footing with schools to give children the best start in life in a manner that could not be reversed by any future Conservative government in the way that they “chipped away” at Sure Start after 2010.
In an interview with the Guardian, she said: “We know that so much is determined for children early on and that you can make the biggest impact in the early years, yet the system we’ve got right now de-prioritises so much of what goes on in our early years settings. We need to raise the standing of the sector, make it part of the education system so that it is regarded with the same parity as our schools. What you achieve in the early years make such a big difference.”
Denne historien er fra July 04, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 04, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Post Office boss asked about his pay and bonuses 'more than expected', says board member
The chair of the Post Office's remuneration committee has said she was surprised at how frequently the company's boss, Nick Read, asked about his pay and bonuses, given the pressure it was under due to the ongoing fallout from the Horizon IT scandal.
Murdoch property group raises offer for Rightmove to £6.2bn as deadline looms
Britain's booming wine-growing industry has been compared to \"California in the 70s\", with annual production more than doubling to 12m bottles a year, according to a report.
Viral load Social media putting rare species in danger
With its striking plumage, impressive size and rowdy displays, a capercaillie is many birders' dream. Only about 530 of the woodland grouse survive in the wild, most in Scotland's Cairngorms national park.
Toll of 20 dead in storm-hit south-eastern US could rise as flooding hampers rescues
Hurricane Helene has reportedly killed at least 20 people and left 4m consumers without power across the south-eastern United States after crashing ashore in north-western Florida late on Thursday as a potent category 4 hurricane, according to officials.
Closing borders Electoral pressures put EU's freedom of movement under threat
In 2015, when more than 1.3 million people headed to Europe, mostly fleeing a brutal war in Syria, the response of Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, was to say: \"Wir schaffen das\" (\"We can manage this\"), and open the country's borders.
Fight does not end here, say critics, as Wimbledon wins the go-ahead to expand
Wimbledon's controversial plans to build 39 new tennis courts have been given the green light after a deputy mayor of London ruled that the \"very significant benefits\" of the scheme outweighed any potential harm to the environment.
Sue Gray Advisers to the PM are often targets of sniping but is it sustainable?
For someone who was not even in Liverpool for the Labour party conference, Sue Gray was the subject of a remarkable amount of conversation.
Revealed Alli gave PM a further £16,000 gift of clothing
Keir Starmer was given a further £16,000 worth of clothes by the Labour peer Waheed Alli, which was declared as money for his private office, the Guardian can reveal.
Tributes paid to 'one of a kind' in seven decades on stage and screen
Maggie Smith, the prolific, awardwinning actor described by peers as being \"one of a kind\" and possessed of a \"sharp eye, sharp wit and formidable talent\", has died aged 89.
Diplomacy Netanyahu insists Israel is winning on 'seven fronts'
Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, shrugged off global appeals for a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza yesterday, using a defiant speech at the UN general assembly to denounce the world body as an \"antisemitic swamp\" and insist Israel is \"winning\" its multi-front wars.