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More private money should be spent on early intervention schemes to improve the lives of vulnerable children, according to a government-commissioned report.
The coalition asked Labour MP Graham Allen to look at how to break the cycle of "dysfunction and under-achievement" in some families.
The report recommends regular assessments of all pre-school children, focusing on their social and emotional development.
It concludes that a new National Parenting Campaign should be established in educating people in the basic principles of parenting, similar to a public health foundation.
The Labour MP was tasked in July last year to lead the inquiry, looking at how to give children from disadvantaged background the best start.
The report says the quality of a child's relationships and learning experiences in the family has more influence on their achievement than any innate abilities, material circumstances or the quality of their nursery and school.
In his report Allen calls for a "change of culture around parenting ... the way in which parents interact with babies, children and young people".
It adds: "Parents in particular need to know whom to turn to for help and where to find them, and how to foster a positive home-learning environment, as well as the usual physical information about breastfeeding and avoiding smoking, toxic substances and stress."
The report calls for charities, employees and others to work with experts and take fresh action, such as raising awareness of the responsibility of good parenting among would-be parents and helping the public to understand the importance of developing social and emotional skills in the early years.
It also recommended an increase in the number of graduates working in early years education.
And it suggests creating an independent 'early intervention foundation' to co-ordinate cross-government action on the issue
Allen is well known for his commitment to early intervention, encouraging innovation in his Nottingham constituency, through the One Nottingham programme.
Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, Allen said: "If you give people, particularly young ones, the ability to do well at school, to arrive at school ready, instead as in Ofsted reports about a number of my primary schools, children arriving unable to speak a sentence, unable to recognise a letter from a number.
"If we can get these young people ready for school, give them all the assistance they need very early on, and cheaply, then the taxpayer actually bails out of their lives."
The Nottingham North MP insisted there was "no magic bullet" to tackle poverty.
Allen is due to publish a second report before the summer recess detailing how private sector finances can fund proven early intervention programmes.
Article Comments
Cuts to central support services and local authorities will certainly reduce the effectiveness of existing Early Years programmes where there is a wealth of expertise.
The privatisation envisaged in this report is untried and untested. It is singularly inappropriate to experiment with this vulnerable group of children.
Christine Blower, NUT
19th Jan 2011 at 4:29 pm
I am encouraged by the government's commitment to early intervention that prompted the Allen Review, and the broad focus of the enquiry. But I am disappointed that the report itself has focused primarily on formal parenting programmes. It has not acknowledged the part other approaches and services - especially parent-to-parent support services - can play. These services often create the conditions in which such formal programmes can flourish.
Home-Start UK chief executive, Kay Bews OBE
19th Jan 2011 at 4:25 pm
More intrusion and interventionism, before children even get into school now? **** them.
Golgo
19th Jan 2011 at 3:34 pm
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