Speech and Language UK respond to Government’s proposed regulatory changes to the early years foundation stage.  

Speech and Language UK respond to Government’s proposed regulatory changes to the early years foundation stage.  

We believe the Government’s proposals represent a profound risk to the wellbeing and future education of millions of children.  

By changing the number of staff able to focus on each child as well as reducing these staff’s qualifications, we could fail future generations of children.  

The early years foundation stage (EYFS) sets standards for staff working in nurseries and childminders who are responsible for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5 years old. Children who don’t get enough support with speech and language development at this age will struggle with social skills, emotional regulation and overall well-being as well as failing to grasp basic maths, reading and writing later on. That isn’t the future that any Government should be planning for the nation’s children.  

We should expect all staff working in nurseries and childminders to know how to encourage children to develop good communication skills and have enough time to spend with children.  

These proposed changes will only mean more children starting school behind where they need to be to learn and thrive. In fact, the Government’s own data shows that even before these proposals, 20% of children were failing to reach the expected ‘Communication and Language’ level for their age. 

The Government has recently invested in extra training for 10,000 early years staff, providing a significant opportunity for some of the existing workforce, but this alone cannot make up for any proposed reduction in qualification or numbers of staff overall. We urge Ministers at the Department for Education to rethink these plans and commit to establishing high quality early years education for all children.  

Jane Harris, Chief Executive, Speech and Language UK 

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