{"id":232096,"date":"2025-07-07T18:07:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/?p=232096"},"modified":"2025-07-07T18:07:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:07:25","slug":"best-start-in-life-strategy-primaries-to-get-intensive-rise-reception-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schoolsweek.co.uk\/best-start-in-life-strategy-primaries-to-get-intensive-rise-reception-support\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Best start in life\u2019 strategy: Primaries to get ‘intensive’ RISE reception support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Primary schools will get one of three levels of \u201csupport\u201d from government school improvement squads aimed at boosting reception teaching, with English and maths hubs expected to do much of the heavy lifting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government will also develop a new training course for reception teachers and put more early years content into National Professional Qualifications for heads as part of its strategy to create the \u201cbest start in life\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But further details on the proposals in the government document<\/a>, published this afternoon, are scarce, and it is not know how much extra funding specifically the school system will get to embed the reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It comes after the prime minister Sir Keir Starmer set a target of 75 per cent of children being school-ready by 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘A golden thread’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The 52-page strategy states that a strong early years workforce \u201cis the foundation of high-quality care and education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \u201ctoo often, early years staff feel overworked, overlooked and undervalued\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document states the government wants a \u201cclear \u2018golden thread\u2019 of high-quality evidence to underpin the training, support and development for people working in the early years”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will work hand in hand with early years providers and schools to make sure they have the tools, training and support they need to meet every child\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are backing this plan with \u00a3400 million over the next three years, on top of existing funding, to improve quality in early years settings and reception classes and drive better outcomes for children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not clear how much of that funding will be for schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Updating training and development<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But the NPQ for headship \u2013 a qualification for aspiring headteachers \u2013 will be \u201cenhanced\u201d with more early years content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government is also \u201cdeveloping a new training course for reception class teachers\u201d and creating a \u201cnew professional development offer for setting leaders\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DfE will also fund more places on the NPQ for early years leadership, but has not said how many, or how much this will cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hilary
Hilary Spencer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hilary Spencer, chief executive of the Ambition Institute, a provider of NPQ courses, said “many headteachers we work with [say] they would like greater support to deliver excellent early years provision”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But she said the organisation\u2019s analytics \u201calso tell us that early years leaders often struggle more than other parts of the workforce to find the time to engage in professional development, and so we would welcome a focus on ensuring that more of this vital workforce are able to engage with the NPQ\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three levels of reception RISE support<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson announced earlier this year that the quality of the reception year would be one of four priorities for the government\u2019s regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s strategy states \u201call schools will receive support to improve reception teaching, with some schools being eligible for enhanced or more intensive offers\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \u201cuniversal reception offer\u201d will see all schools given access to \u201cbetter data and analysis\u201d on early years foundation stage profile assessment at the end of reception. They will also be \u201cinvited to participate in face-to-face and online training\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An \u201cenhanced reception offer\u201d will give some schools \u201cadditional early years engagement from specialists in language, literacy and maths through English and Maths Hubs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English hubs will deliver \u201cnew literacy-focused audits\u201d to schools, to \u201csupplement those already focused on language and reading\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maths hubs will put more schools through their mastering number training and deliver \u201cconsolidated teacher training on number and spatial reasoning\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And an \u201cintensive reception offer\u201d will see some schools get more assistance from hubs, including \u201cdedicated time with a literacy expert and engagement from maths hubs to increase participation in other training\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No further details have been provided, and the government has not said if the hubs will receive more funding to support the extra work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family hubs involve school staff – but who pays?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It comes after the government announced this morning it would fund “best start family hubs” in every council area, effectively extending the current network of family hubs created under previous governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These hubs will “include professionals working across all local teams, including health and education, and will work with nurseries, childminders, schools, health services, libraries and local voluntary and community groups”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, no details have been provided on how exactly school staff will be involved, nor whether schools will be paid for their time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government said the rollout could see up to 1,000 hubs across the country by 2028, with one in each council area by April 2026. The hubs are backed by more than \u00a3500 million funding, government said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New funded ‘partnerships’ with nurseries<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The government also said it was funding \u201cnew partnerships between schools and local nurseries to strengthen transitions into school \u2013 so children feel confident, prepared and supported when they start school, and schools are ready to meet each child’s needs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnerships will allow staff in schools and nurseries to \u201cspend time learning from each other and sharing knowledge, expertise and best practice, strengthening local early years systems\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey will also help parents and children build relationships with schools and other local services, help teachers spot issues early, and ensure parents know how to effectively support their child\u2019s development at home, so that they feel at home in the classroom when they start school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No further details have been provided.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New plan to boost school-readiness also includes more early years training for heads and reception teachers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":174998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[406],"post-theme":[],"class_list":["post-232096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-early-years"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t