Early Years Service gets government recognition
Plymouth City Council’s Early Years Service is in the top 20 local authorities nationally for its take up of the free early education offer for eligible two-year-olds.
The Council have received a letter from Sam Gyimah, Secretary of State for Education and Childcare praising them for their hard work.
Currently in Plymouth there are 1,150 two year olds taking up the free entitlement, which is approximately 81 per cent of those eligible. The national average take up is 65 per cent.
Since the 1 September 2013, local authorities have had a duty to provide free early education for eligible two-year-olds. From September 2014 that duty has extended to include even more two year olds with wider eligibility, which means that up to 1400 children in Plymouth could benefit from a free nursery place.
Plymouth City Council’s Early Years Service has been working hard to ensure that as many two-year olds as possible can take up this offer.
Councillor Sue McDonald, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Public Health said: “Getting good quality early years education is essential to improving children’s life chances and break cycles of underachievement.
“Although we now have a huge number of Plymouth children claiming their free entitlement we know there are still more out there who are not.
“I would encourage any parent who thinks they are could be entitled to free childcare for their two year old to get in touch with us as soon as possible.”
The success of the programme in Plymouth has depended on good relationships and strong partnership working with early years providers to reorganise their provision to allow more two-year olds to access early education. Children’s Centres, health visitors and the Family Information Service have also been influential in helping parents access this entitlement, and several schools have also expanded their provision to take younger children. More child minders have also taken up the opportunity to take eligible two-year olds as well, adding to the increased capacity in the city.
Jo Hall, Senior Adviser, Early Years Service said: “ We are very proud to be recognised in this way for the work that we do, the success of which is down to the very strong partnership working in Plymouth and a determination to do the best for all children”
Find out more about free early education by visiting http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/me2funding
