I’m extremely proud to announce three more steps being taken by this Labour government to fulfil our promise to enhance education in England, ensuring each and every child gets the best possible start, with equal opportunities everywhere. These new initiatives further Labour’s mission to set children up to achieve and to thrive.
We have already made extraordinary progress; from investing in 300 school-based nurseries which will offer 6,000 new places, to giving working parents access to 30 hours of funded childcare, the lives of young people and parents are already improving under Labour.
Starting this year, Luton has been selected as one of only ten areas where we’re providing a £4,500 bonus for qualified teachers working in early years settings, in communities where children are least likely to be school ready, or lacking teachers. This will guarantee our children the best start in life, breaking the unfair tradition that background determines success.
Just 58% of children in the most underprivileged communities reach the desired level of development by the end of reception, compared to 77% in the more privileged areas. This Labour government believes that it should be how well you work that determines how successful you are, not where you’re from. So we’re evening out the playing field; the early years teaching bonus, or Early Years Teacher Recognition Payment (EYTRP), does this by retaining and attracting 2,700 of the best and brightest teachers to work in areas where they’re needed most.
We are also funding new partnerships to ease children’s transition from early years settings to reception, and 18 new stronger practice hubs to join the existing network, delivering on Labour’s commitment to double the number of hubs to 36 and extending the programme to 2029.
As promised, Labour is also rolling out essential mental health support teams in our schools. These teams will develop tools for identifying children’s needs earlier, peer sessions, and 1:1 support. So far, almost 80% of secondary schools are covered, by 2029, every school and college will have support in action. This support has expanded to support 800,000 more children, just this year! Now, there are nearly six million pupils benefiting from the care and dedication of mental health support teams. Labour’s mission is to break down barriers to opportunity created by mental health, for every child, at every stage.
Poor mental health is crucially detrimental in all aspects of life, including education. The action taken by this Labour government further proves that wellbeing is at the core of everything we do, and the new support systems put in place ensure that nobody’s mental health hinders their potential, allowing everyone the same opportunities.
The Labour government has been investing in our children’s full potential, and last year, due to essential work done alongside schools, 140,000 fewer pupils were persistently absent and there were 5 million more days spent in schools. This is thanks to new, updated toolkits to support schools, including a new chapter on how to improve attendance on occasional days of absence, informed by research taken from real school studies. These toolkits also advise schools on communications with parents, encouraging a warmer, support-first approach to increasing attendance. Every school in England will know to access these toolkits, as well as an online data tool which highlights absence hotspots and patterns in different areas.
The impact of persistent absences is far more damaging than many may think, pupils who have perfect, or near perfect attendance in year 6 have 30% higher odds of reaching expected standards in reading, writing, and maths compared to those missing as little as 5-10% of school. Therefore, the actions taken by this Labour government to reduce absences is extremely positive for young people, and for their futures.
However, I am fully aware that there is a lot more to do, we cannot fix a problem overnight so we must work alongside families and schools to make further progress. I am passionate about giving each young person equal opportunities and doing what is best for them so that they can reach their full potential. Every day of a young person’s life must be made to count, and every day spent in school is vital for their development, I believe that maximising attendance is an essential step-up to help our children thrive.