Nursery World - Editor's view - The importance of taking the long view

It is amazing to think that the Effective Provision of Pre-School
Education project began in 1997, and has just reported on outcomes at
age 16 for the children it has followed (see our feature on page
16).

It is clearer than ever that attending pre-school provision has a beneficial effect on academic, social-behavioural and economic outcomes. And this is even more so when the quality of early years provision is high.

The length and rigour of EPPE (now EPPSE) is heartening when political imperatives sometimes mean that short-term gain takes precedence over long-term benefits. These findings must be used to justify greater and better investment in the early years, despite the drive to cut funding in the current economic climate.

And messages from the study about what high quality practice and provision entail should not be ignored either, when our playful learning approach seems under threat.

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