The school starting age should be raised to six, with children following a nursery curriculum from the age of three, according to a Liberal Democrat draft document on early years.
Foundations for Excellence proposes a foundation key stage for children aged three to five-plus: “We will act to establish a coherent early- years phase, to be known as foundation key stage. We propose that the national curriculum should start at the beginning of Year 1, and that key stage 1 should be taught over six terms.”
Formal teaching of numeracy and literacy would start at KS1, and every local education authority would have to provide high-quality nursery care for children from the age of three. There would be a review of initial training for teachers intending to work in early years and a multi-professional postgraduate qualification would be developed for early-years advisers.
