In “formality damages under fives” (TES, November 6) your report quoting comments I made at the recent Liberal Democrat conference on education did not make clear that I used the word “preposterous” in the context of possible targets for two and three-year-olds.
My suggestion was that it would be helpful if we considered first what the entitlements of young children should be in our society.
In my judgment, this is preferable to an emphasis on outcomes, which demonstrably leads to potentially damaging rigidity of practice where practitioners and policy-makers do not understand the way that children learn best in the early years.
Wendy Scott
Chief executive The British Association for Early Childhood Education 111 City View House 463 Bethnal Green Road London E2
