Foundation Years
Over time it has become accepted that the first years are crucially important in children’s healthy development. Each period brings massive changes – beginning with the first year when the newborn develops amazing physical skills that allow them to manouevre themselves from one place to another and the social and communication skills to draw people to them, leading up to the period of the second birthday when many children are capable of speech and are developing a repertoire of stories and rhymes that they enjoy listening to and joining in with; then the two year old with so many capabilities, sense of humour and a realisation that they can do many, many things! So much development in such a short time – so the foundation years are truly fundamental in shaping children’s futures. The term ‘foundation years’ was first proposed by Frank Field in his landmark Independent Review on poverty and life chances. His publication: ‘The Foundation Years: preventing poor children becoming poor adults’ recommended that greater prominence be given ‘to the earliest years in life, from pregnancy to age five, adopting the term Foundation Years’. An associated government funded website provides information on early years issues for families with children from birth to five.
