Sir, Children as young as 4 will be encouraged or even required to write in sentences and use punctuation under the Government’s statutory framework, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), being introduced in England this autumn — but resisted elsewhere in the UK.

Key aspects of this highly contentious legislation have been widely criticised across the field, with even the Government’s own advisers urging reconsideration, in a letter extracted under the Freedom of Information Act.

The department has also recently “shelved” its own commissioned research, which casts large doubts on aspects of the strategy.

Beverley Hughes, the Children’s Minister, has now made two alleged “concessions”, but these fail to address the concerns. She has ignored calls to scrap or suspend literacy goals, which are widely deplored as being far too advanced for many young children.

Her other “concession” — the 34-page exemption process purporting to enable childcare providers to opt out of some of the “learning requirements” — is expertly camouflaged, labyrinthine and bureaucratically complex, appearing to have been intentionally designed to deter anyone from applying.

Until recently, the very idea that practitioners and parents would have to apply for exemption from state educational policies imposed on pre-school-age children would have been quite unthinkable.

We continue to campaign for the compulsory learning requirements being changed to voluntary guidance; for EYFS to be extended until the end of the school year when children turn 6; and for no achievement targets to be imposed on local authorities before then.

Parents should have the right to choose how their pre-school children are cared for and educated. Young children should also have the right to be protected from an imposed system which harnesses their development to prescribed targets, and which may well force them into inappropriate early learning.

Dr Richard House
Senior university lecturer in psychotherapy

Graham Kennish
Teacher trainer

Kim Simpson
Counsellor/Parent coach/ Montessorian

all for the “Open EYE” Campaign Steering Group — www.savechildhood.org

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