Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life Strategy
The Government strategy ‘Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life’ sets out the government’s vision to make real change happen for children and families. The aim of the £1.5bn strategy is to support all children, regardless of background, to thrive and reach their full potential.
The first five years of a child’s life is vital for their future development. Education begins before a child starts Primary School and early childhood lays the foundation for lifelong success. Factors such as poverty, discrimination, and lack of access to quality childcare and family services can have an impact on a child’s development. This strategy aims to reduce inequality and ensure that all families receive support, reach developmental milestones and are school-ready by 2028.
The Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life strategy acknowledges the challenges that have impacted early years and family support services. It states that the early years workforce is over-stretched and it can be costly, complex, and difficult to access for families. In particular, it was recognised that children from low-income and White working-class backgrounds, and those with SEND, are disproportionately left behind. As a result, the government plans and commits to rebuilding family services and reforming early education over the next decade.
Best Start Family Service
- New Best Start Family Hubs will open in every local authority to combine health, education, childcare and family support. This will be based on the best approaches of Sure Start, Family Hubs and Start for Life. Local authorities will see a boost in funding to deliver these services. These hubs will focus on disadvantaged and high-need areas, but will be open to all families.
- This will include a national digital platform linked to the NHS app, which will provide parenting advice and local service access.
Strengthening Health and Local Accountability
- Improve care in areas such as maternity and health visiting, access to vaccinations, and tooth decay prevention. The local authority will set child development targets.
Expanding and Simplifying Childcare
- Make childcare more accessible by providing eligible working parents with 30 hours funded childcare for children from 9 months old. This will save families up to £7,500 a year and help thousands more return to work.
- Provide more funding for SEND inclusion and children from low-income families.
- Schools will be supported to open or expand nursery provision, especially in places where they are most needed.
- Funding for the Early Years Pupil Premium will rise to £570 per child, supporting disadvantaged families.
Improving Quality and Workforce
- A professional register will be launched for early years educators to raise status and professional pathways.
- Ofsted will conduct more frequent inspections to raise childcare quality.
- Increase the number of early years teachers by offering more high-quality training routes and financial incentives. This will have a particular focus on disadvantaged communities.
- Double the number of Stronger Practice Hubs to share best practice.
- Fund partnerships between nurseries and schools to share evidenced-based practice and strengthen links across settings. This aims to help more children have a smooth transition into reception.
- Upskill teams in SEND support and embedding inclusive approaches into everyday practice.
- Focus on improving Reception year teaching and early language support to ensure that children get a fairer start to school.
To support the strategy and drive forward change, the Government will appoint a Best Start in Life champion.
With more than 4.5 million children living in poverty and many falling behind in key developmental areas, the ‘Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life’ strategy seeks to close those gaps as early as possible. By 2028, the government aims for 75% of children to reach a “good level of development” by age five, an improvement from the current 68%. Overall, this initiative represents a crucial step toward giving every child a fair start in life, and success depends on partnerships with families, educators, health professionals, and local authorities.
Read the strategy: gov.uk/government/publications/giving-every-child-the-best-start-in-life/giving-every-child-the-best-start-in-life
More Early Years blogs: showcasetraining.co.uk/blog/