New Inclusive Early Years Fund to support inclusion in England
We welcome DfE’s announcement of a new Inclusive Early Years Fund (IEYF) alongside their Inclusive Mainstream Fund for schools. It will provide £47 million of additional
by Dominic Gunn
While there is much detail still to come on the Government’s plans for education, and plenty of focus already on concerns regarding changes to current SEND provision, the White Paper presents a fundamentally different conception both of the purpose of education and the way to obtain it for all. The bold statement on page 10, “Children born under this government will not see their life chances dictated by their background”, can be seen as a reference to the ease of privilege as well as a promise of the support we would expect for disadvantaged groups.
For Early Years SEND two points in particular stand out, one needing “reconstruction” and one that needs “recollection”.
“Rebuilding local services” is the heading of a section which refers to the success of Sure Start Children’s Centres and the crucial connection required between health, family support and education for young children from birth to 5, and beyond. This is a welcome commitment after years of austerity and cuts have put at risk those who need assistance and guidance the most.
This seems to be aiming for equity across the country because some councils, NHS trusts and local authorities have surprisingly managed to hold onto some physical sites and networks with a determination to champion multi-agency working and early intervention, for pre-school children and settings in particular. I have been fortunate enough to benefit from this in my work as a Specialist Teacher but it has not been the case nationally and often, where it has been achieved, it has relied on a shared professional desire and personal relationships operating in the face of drastic underfunding.
So for most, if not all of us, this will require at least partial rebuilding to reach a basic level of service. With over £200 million investment planned for this, we should see rapid improvements and revitalised community networks. The original blueprint for this societal model still exists.
But the second point is all about the curriculum. An inclusive, just and ambitious curriculum is central to the White Paper. But, in the early years, this is something we already have in a serviceable form (with caution regarding the tendency of “inclusive” aims to perpetuate systems and paradigms which actually need structural change).
The EYFS framework will of course benefit from improvements but it already allows great flexibility in the way it should be used, with few statutory requirements in addition to the content. With the help of non-statutory guidance, like Birth to 5 Matters, all progress is celebrated. Enabling environments take precedence over commercial catch-up programmes, all too easily implemented before learning pre-requisites have been established through play. In the EYFS, the curriculum is intended to be experienced in a sensory manner. Relationships are advocated above rule-enforcing rewards and sanctions. All forms of communication are valued and adults using language (and communication support including signing, symbols, objects of reference) are already expected as universal practice within an early years pedagogy. Strengths-based, rather than deficit-obsessed, observation and assessment is fundamental when planning for the Unique Child, and repetition is understood as essential to building competence and confidence in learning, at whatever pace is appropriate in each case.
The training enabled by DfE investment will be crucial in helping all educators, parents and practitioners, understand this in-built flexibility which was always intended to be used within the early years. But we do not need to be anxious about significant changes being expected of us because when we already know, and can articulate, our evidence-based pedagogy, we simply need to maintain our professional curiosity, our high professional standards, and be ready to use the long-awaited adequate funding that is promised.
Dominic Gunn is an Early Education Associate
More about the Schools White Paper and the SEND Consultation
Join our SEND consultation discussion event on from 4.00-5.00pm on Monday 23 March.
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