An article examined the effects of early education on a cohort of British children born in 1958. It said that starting education before the compulsory school starting age (at 5) could have long-lasting, positive impacts on children s lives.
Source: Alissa Goodman and Barbara Sianesi, 'Early education and children s outcomes: how long do the impacts last?', Fiscal Studies, Volume 26 Number 4, Institute for Fiscal Studies (020 7291 4800)
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Dec
A Childcare Bill was published, designed to provide sufficient local childcare to meet the needs of working mothers and fathers, or those that wanted to return to work. The Bill also provided that, for children from birth to the end of reception year, all registered childcare settings would be required to deliver the 'Early Years Foundation Stage' - a framework of requirements for learning and care with the same legal force as the national curriculum. But the government dropped plans to end statutory regulation of childcare for children over 5. The Bill was given a second reading.
Source: Childcare Bill, Department for Education and Skills, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 28 November 2005, columns 24-102, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | DfES press release | HOC Library research paper | CPAG press release | Daycare Trust press release | PSLA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Nov
Researchers said that young children who were looked after by their mothers at home developed better than those cared for by nurseries, childminders or relatives.
Source: Research by Penelope Leach, Kathy Sylva and Alan Stein, reported in The Observer, 2 October 2005
Links: Observer report | PSA press release (pdf) | 0-19 report
Date: 2005-Oct
The education inspectorate said that almost half of England s estimated 105,000 childcare providers had achieved the highest possible grade of good in the period 2003-2005, and only 1 per cent were judged as being unsatisfactory .
Source: Early Years: Firm Foundations, HMI 2436, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report (pdf) | OFSTED press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Aug
A report presented the findings of an evaluation of the Peers Early Education Partnership (a literacy intervention intended to benefit children from economically disadvantaged communities). The programme was found to have had a significant impact on children's value-added progress in a number of literacy-related skills, as well as in measures of their self-esteem.
Source: Maria Evangelou, Greg Brooks, Sally Smith and Denise Jennings, Birth to School Study: A longitudinal evaluation of the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP) 1998-2005, Research Report SSU/2005/FR/017, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2005-Aug
The second edition of a book examined the importance of play as a tool for learning and teaching.
Source: Janet Moyles (ed.), The Excellence of Play, Open University Press (01280 823388)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Aug
The government announced that every child in England up to the age of 4 was to be given a free bag of books, under a ?27 million scheme designed to promote reading.
Source: Press release 26 July 2005, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: DfES press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jul
A new book described original research projects focusing on early childhood services and settings, gender and disability issues in provision and play, and on how adults influenced children?s learning.
Source: Cathy Nutbrown and Kath Hirst (eds.), Perspectives on Early Childhood Education, Trentham Books (01782 745567)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Jun
A new book reported on 15 early learning research projects, focusing on early childhood services and settings, gender and disability issues in provision and play, and on how adults influenced children s learning.
Source: Cathy Nutbrown and Kath Hirst (eds.), Perspectives on Early Childhood Education, Trentham Books (01782 745567)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-May
A new book examined policy issues in early childhood education.
Source: Nicola Yelland, Critical Issues in Early Childhood Education, Open University Press (01280 823388)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Apr
A new book looked at how young children's perspectives could be used to influence change in early years provision.
Source: Alison Clark and Peter Moss, Spaces to Play: More listening to young children using the Mosaic approach, National Children s Bureau (020 7843 6029)
Links: Summary (pdf) | Children Now report
Date: 2005-Apr
A study sought to provide an evidence base concerning the effectiveness of the transition from the foundation stage (ages 3-5) and year 1 (ages 5-6). The findings suggested that there were some issues that presented challenges for children, staff and parents.
Source: Dawn Sanders et al., A Study of the Transition from the Foundation Stage to Key Stage 1, Research Report SSU/2005/FR/013, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2005-Mar
A think-tank report said that efforts to widen participation in higher education would have little impact without increases in spending on early years education and care.
Source: Vidhya Alakeson, Too Much, Too Late: Life chances and spending on education and training, Social Market Foundation (020 7222 7060)
Links: SMF press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Mar
A report summarized a telephone survey of parents who had used a neighbourhood nursery at an early stage in the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative. Overall, satisfaction with the quality of provision and facilities available was high, although a third of parents said their nursery could improve dissemination of information to parents on children s progress. A linked report presented findings about the starting up and operation of the nurseries in the early stages of the development of the programme. (The Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative aims to expand childcare provision in the 20 per cent most disadvantaged areas of England by creating 45,000 new daycare places for children aged 0-5.)
Source: Alice Bell and Ivana La Valle, Early Stages of the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative: Parents' Experiences, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260) | Teresa Smith and Caroline Lee with Sean Braswell, Kate Coxon, George Smith, Kathy Sylva and Emily Tanner, Early Stages of the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative: Opening the Nurseries, Department for Education and Skills
Links: Report - parents (pdf) | Brief - parents (pdf) | Report - opening (pdf) | Brief - opening (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jan
