Proposals for York to become a Centre of Excellence for early childhood development, helping to tackle childhood inequalities, will be considered for approval by the council’s Executive on 3 March.
The proposals reflect the authority’s ambitions to support communities and reduce inequalities in child development, including health and wellbeing, school readiness and healthy life expectancy.
While most children in York thrive, York is a very unequal city, and the gap in outcomes is one of the widest in the country by the age of five.
Research shows that inequalities in development are already identifiable by a child’s first birthday and statistically significant by age two. Although existing educational data shows the gap widening as children grow older, local evidence shows that the roots of inequality emerge much earlier.
The council’s Executive will be asked to support a proposed approach to tackle these issues, bringing together multiple strands of work — including Neighbourhood Health, Family First social care reforms, and SEND improvement — into a coherent strategy for the first five years of a child’s life.
The strategy will ensure the city provides:
• Better support for families and the home learning environment
• Increasing access to affordable good quality early years childcare
• Improves quality provision in the early years, including Reception
The proposals focus on enabling organisations across the city to work alongside families so they feel better supported across health, children’s and education services in their community.
The plans will also enable the city to meet, and hopefully exceed, the government-set Best Start in Life targets for York:
• At least 79% of children achieve a Good Level of Development (GLD) at the end of Reception by the end of the 27/28 academic year
• At least 58.1% of children eligible for Free School Meals achieve a GLD by the end of the 27/28 academic year
Proposals to position York as a Centre of Excellence for early childhood development starting from September, would see the council working in partnership with Ebor Multi‑Academy Trust, the University of York, York St John University, the voluntary, community and health sector, and — where appropriate — private sector partners, with a particular focus on conception to two years of age.
Cllr Bob Webb, the council’s Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, said:
“Evidence consistently demonstrates that investment in the early years most effectively improves outcomes for children and families across their entire lives, while reducing future demand on high‑cost services.
“Prevention and early support are absolutely central to our plans to make a positive difference for children and families and I’m pleased that once again the Executive is tackling inequalities head on with these proposals.”
Cllr Lucy Steels Walshaw, the council’s Executive Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care, said:
“Working towards becoming a Centre of Excellence will give York the chance to lead the way in early years innovation.
"It will help us build new partnerships, attract investment and shine a national spotlight on the brilliant work happening in York.
“But above all, this is about people. Making a long term commitment to the wellbeing of York’s communities, means we can create the conditions for everyone to live healthier, happier lives. It’s how we move forward with closing the gaps in health and wellbeing inequalities that we know exist across our city”.