The National Curriculum, although not applicable to children under five, highlights the significance of education in the earliest years. Unless secure foundations for learning are established these children are unable to benefit from a statutory educational programme.

Despite this, the complexity of nursery teaching remains largely unrecognised; provision continues to be under-resourced in many parts of the country, and some of our youngest children are being offered an inappropriate curriculum which falls short of high quality nursery practice.

Even the best intentions are not e