§ Mr. WoodwardTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the Government's policy is on implementing the recommendations of the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education project; and if he will make a statement. [187366]
§ Margaret HodgeThe Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) project was commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills in 1997 to provide evidence on which the Government could base their development of good quality early years services.1808W The project has already produced a number of significant findings which have informed or supported policy. These include:
early education produces better effects in small bursts over a long period. This confirms the benefits of our offer of a free part-time early education place for all three and four-year-olds;the effects of early years provision are greatest and most sustained for disadvantaged children, hence our focus on targeted improvement of services through Sure Start Local Programmes, Children's centres and other initiatives. Children's centres will cover all the 20 per cent. most deprived wards by 2008;an early start at pre-school (under three years) was linked with better intellectual attainment and children having better relationships with other children (peer sociability) at age three years. We have also recently announced that we will pilot early education for 12,000 disadvantaged two-year-olds;integrated services produce better cognitive outcomes for children, and we are now building on the lessons of Early Excellence centres and Sure Start Local Programmes, in our multi agency Children's centres, and in extended schools;qualified teacher involvement is important to improved outcomes, and we now require teacher input as part of the Children's centre core offer, andthe home environment and parents have a major impact on children's development, and early years services are more effective when working closely with parents. There is a strong emphasis on parental involvement in Sure Start programmes.