2013 Media Coverage

There was an extraordinary level of media interest in the issues that we were raising

BBC Question Time, 29/01/16 (26.39 mins)
Young people in England have 'lowest literacy levels in developed world' says OECD, International Business Times, 29/01/16
Our young children don't need drilling in phonics - they need to be kids for as long as possible, Telegraph 24th Jan,2016
Less school time, less formal education taught by adults, more unregulated play and more fun – and the idea is setting the heather alight all over Scotland. The Scotsman, 24th Jan 2016
Scotland calls for children to start school at the age of seven, The Courier, 21st Jan 2016
Delaying Kindergarten until age 7 offers key benefits to kids - Washington Post,  7th Oct, 2015
Debates about the right age to send kids to school preoccupy those who are already advantaged, The Guardian 9th Sept 2015
Schools lack the funding to double the amount of free childcare, TES, 8th Sept 2015
Gaming warning over high-stakes testing, TES, 16th July 2015
A Political Childhood? Early Years Educator, July 2015
Test-heavy baseline assessments rejected by schools, TES, 1st July 2015
Baseline Approval Process falters, Nursery World, 01/06/2015
Yvette Cooper appeals to family vote, Independent 27/05/15
Estelle Morris - Labour must take time for a re-think, Guardian 26/05/15
Free hours offer could 'keel over' without funding review - Nursery World 26/04/15
Funding for Children's Centres cut by £250m - CYPNow 22/04/15
Two year olds in schools - Charity prioritises cost over quality - Nursery World, 06/04/15
Union warns that many pupils now arrive at school too hungry to learn, Independent 05/04/15
Teachers to boycott four year olds tests, Times 05/04/15
Teachers call for boycott on testing for four year olds, Telegraph, 04/04/15
NUT calls for children to play in classroom until the age of seven, Telegraph 02/04/15
Testing times for primary school pupils and Labour’s education policies, Guardian, 31/03/15
MPs call for National Parenting Support Programme - CYPNow 24/03/15
Early Years groups criticise plans to promote school-based childcare - CYPNow 23/03/15
Campaigners urge ministers to say 'no' to the baseline - Nursery World 20/03/15
Scrap 'damaging' primary tests, campaigners say _ TES 19/03/15
Experts oppose Baseline Assessments - BBC News 19/03/15
Controversial assessment plan infuriates teachers - Independent 15/03/15
Drive to get parents back to work could undermine child development - Telegraph 24/02/15
Teachers Union backs early education principles - CYPNow 25/02/15
Why I'm taking my son out of school for a year, Telegraph - 11/02/15 
Re-examine the Baseline Cathy Nutbrown - Nursery World 26/01/15
How Chinese success in education comes at a high cost - Tanith Carey - New Statesman - 20/01/15
We must scrap new baseline tests, Cathy Nutbrown, The Conversation, 20/01/15
Baseline tests 'dragoon children' - The Independent 19/01/15
Primary schools at crisis point - BBC News 15/01/15
Experts call for withdrawal of baseline check - Nursery World 15/01/15
Nurseries face chronic underfunding - Nursery World 14/01/15
Primary schools at 'tipping point' through lack of space - Nursery World 14/01/15
At long last, teachers are set to become high-status professionals - The Guardian 09/01/15
Laws outlines Lib Dem pledges - CYPNow 27/11/14
Norman Tebbitt attacks coalition childcare policy, Telegraph 27/11/14
EYFS Profile is Flawed, Nursery World, 17/11/14
Emotional health in childhood is the key to future happiness, Guardian 08/11/14
Sector urges re-think on baseline testing - Nursery World 04/11/14
David Laws says politicians whims are harming schools - BBC 02/11/14
Annual schools tests in Wales are causing so much stress that pupils are refusing to go to school, BBC News 30/10/14
Childcare Minister launches drive to boost school early education provision - CYPNow 21/10/14
George Osborne gets stay-at-home mothers back to work - Telegraph 23/10/14
Englands free nursery places deliver no long-term benefits - Guardian 22/10/14
Surestart Children's Centres face worse year of budget cuts - Nursery World 12/10/14
DfE invites proposals for baseline assessment - Nursery World 06/10/14
Sector criticises 30 month inspection wait - Nursery World 06/10/14
Children's Centre funding cut by £400m in 3 years - CYPNow 01/10/14
Half of children 'are not ready to start school' - Telegraph 23/09/14
A mixed start for the new childcare minister, Nursery World, 19/09/14
EPPSE Research - pre-schools leads to higher GCSE grades - Nursery World - 09/09/14
Early Days in the Early Years Hotseat, Nursery World, 08/09/14
Lib Dems pledge free childcare for all two year olds, BBC 03/09/14
Letter to the Minister - Richard House, Teach Nursery 02/09/14
Health leaders call for emergency taskforce on obesity - BBC News 31/08/14
Former Government Advisor issues Pupil Premium Warning -  CYPNow 22/08/14
Creative Learning - allowing individuals to flourish, Philip Bujak, Nursery World 10/08/14
Dear Nicky Morgan - it's time to take a step back - Daily Telegraph 22/07/14
Sam Gyimah confirmed as childcare minister - CYPNow 21/07/14
Turn children's centres into 'family hubs', says think-tank, CYPNow, 15/07/14
Delay school starting age until at least six, academic says, Daily Telegraph, 11/07/14
Happiness is the government's business, Centre Forum 08/07/14
School-based nurseries to have separate Ofsted rating - CYPNow 03/07/14
Early years sector calls for funding changes, Nursery World, 01/07/14
Childcare sector criticises Labour for supporting Tory policy of school for two-year-olds - www.daynurseries.co.uk 23/06/14
Open Schools for 10 hours a day says education minister Elizabeth Truss - Evening Standard 17/06/14
Childcare Policy not 'fit for purpose' warns report - CYPNow 04/06/14
Early Years Sector slams Ofsted over inspection plans - CYPNow 02.06.2014
Ofsted to bring childcare inspections back in house, CYPNow, 28/05/14
Poor Nursery Provision fails disadvantaged children report warns, CYPNow, 28/05/14
Dramatic Fall in Childminders linked to agencies, CYPNow, 24/05/14
School admissions guidance clarifies councils' duties on summer-born children - CYPNow 13/05/2014
Policymakers seduced by neuroscience to justify early intervention agenda - Guardian 06/05/14
Chinese teaching is not the best plan for Britain - Telegraph 29/04/14
Schools struggle to deliver free childcare for two year olds - CYPNow 29/04/14
Human Development and the Early Years, Dr Pam Jarvis, Nursery World, 27/04/14
NUT considers boycotting testing of four year olds - Day Nurseries 23/04/14
Is misused neuroscience defining early years and child protection policy? The Guardian 26/04/14
Early Years Education must be an election priority say campaigners - Helen Ward, TES 23/04/14
Gove is turning children into battery hens - The Evening Standard 23/04/14
'Principled non-compliance’: an idea whose time has come? - Richard House in Nursery World 23/04/14
Teachers propose boycott of reception baseline tests - Nursery World 23/04/14
Government Early Years Policy undermines wellbeing - CYPNow 23/04/14
Teacher's Leader attacks government focus on early years testing - CYPNow 22/04/14
Early Years Learning - the Fights we do not Need - Estelle Morris - The Guardian 22/04/2014
Quality of Ofsted Early Years Inspectors under fire - CYPNow 15/04/14
Families have less time together, teachers warn, BBC, 15/04/14
Childhood eroded by ten hour school day - Telegraph 15/04/14
Delay start of fomal schooling until seven says NUT, Telegraph 13/04/14
Charity slates political parties for not putting the best interests of the child at the heart of policymaking www.daynurseries.co.uk 09/04/14 
Early Years Providers hit back at Ofsted - CYPNow 08/04/14
Mary Bousted - Infants 'institutionalised' by over-exposure to childcare - Telegraph 07/04/14
We need an intelligent Ofsted conversation - June O'Sullivan's blog 07/04/14
Keep Toddlers out of the arms of the state - Telegraph 07/04/14
Ofsted chief accuses middle class of prejudice against early years teaching - Guardian 03/04/14
Ofsted Early Years Overhaul with have 'catastrophic impact' - Telegraph 03/04/14
Ofsted Chief - send children to school from the age of two - Telegraph 03/04/14
Ofsted: all parents should get a 'checklist' telling them how to raise their children - Telegraph 03/04/14
Reading and Numbers Tests for Two Year olds - Telegraph 29/03/14
24 Hour Childcare and the working parents conundrum - The Guardian 29/03/14
Why testing four-year-olds as they start school is a bad idea, The Conversation, 28/03/14
Victory for mum who refused to let her son start school - Daily Mail 28/03/14
Schools will be allowed to test four year olds from 2016, Government confirms, Guardian 27/03/14
Stay at home mums in the UK face the highest taxes in the Western world - Daily Mail, 11/03/13
MPs slam Government over response to children's centres report - Nursery World, 10/03/14
An age-old problem: Why can't summer-born children start school later? Independent 05/03/14
Trust calls for end to high childcare costs - CYPNow 04/03/14
Children's Centres should deliver 2 year old offer - CYPNow 26/02/14
Early Years Education cuts irresponsible, experts warn - Guardian 21/02/14
Early Years Provision must be protected for the sake of our children - Guardian 21/02/14
Want your child to be a success? Quit scheduling and let them play freely - Dr David Whitebread, Telegraph 17/02/14
A Question of Priorities - Childcare - Guardian 17/02/14
Your child is not a genius - get over it - Alex Proud - Telegraph 10/02/14
Focus on Foundations, Wendy Ellyatt - ATL Magazine Feb 2014
Moving in the Wrong Direction? Richard House, Under 5 Pre-School Learning Alliance Magazine - Feb 2014
Schools encouraged to take two years olds to tackle childcare crisis - Telegraph 04/02/14
Tests in Reception branded 'a waste of time and money' - Nursery World, 03/02/14
Julien Grenier Blog on Baseline Testing 01/02/14
Reception Children to face compulsory tests - Guardian 01/02/14
Too Much, Too Soon, Why children should spend more time playing and start school later, Forbes, 20/01/14
Whose Knowledge Counts in Government Literary Policies? Education Journal, Jan 2014
Improve workforce before expanding free childcare - CYPNOW 22/01/14
Chldren growing up in a 'toxic climate' of stress - Telegraph 20/01/14
Report calls for more flexibility over school starting age - Daily Telegraph 15/01/14
Give Childhood back to Children, Independent 12/01/14
Universal Childcare - The observer Debate 12/01/14
All Through Schools, The Independent, 09/01/14
MPs call for greater clarity on role and purpose of children's centres - CYPNow 17/12/13
'Schoolification' of Toddlers on the Early Years Education Menu - Guardian 17/12/13
Labour should adopt Universal Childcare - Guardian 11/12/13
Educating England - Are Changes Needed? University of York 02/12/13
The need for Evidence-based policies - www.gov.uk 03/12/13
Ex-Education Secretary Estelle Morris feels political interference is harming schools - York Press, 13/11/13
Summerborn babies fall behind after first year of school - Daily Mail - 22/11/13
Childcare- like Life - is about so much more than economics, Guardian 19/11/13
Too much, too young: Should schooling start at age 7? NEW SCIENTIST, 18/11/13
Unrealistic Academic Standards failing children - TACTYC - Nov 2013
MPs and early years experts pledge support to make early years a worldwide priority, Nursery World, 07/11/13
Sector dismisses Ofsted's call for 'all-through' schools from two. Nursery World, 05/11/13
Delay School Starting Age until Seven says Rowan Williams - Telegraph 30/10/13
Getting Ready for School - is it too much too soon? Optimus Education 24/10/13
Premature Babies struggle in the classroom - Telegraph 17/10/13
Reading at Five - Why? - Joan Almon, SEEN Magazine
Looking Back not Forwards, Wendy Ellyatt, EYE Magazine Vol 15
Rhetoric over Reason - Neil Henty, EYE Magazine Vol 15 
Day Nurseries.co.uk on Summerborn children 09/10/2013
Matthew Shaw, The Price to Pay for Being a Child, Blog 07/10/13
Why Children are too Young to Fail - Nursery World 04/10/13

Related items
OECD Literacy Tables - The Guardian 09/10/2013
England's young adults trail world in literacy and maths, BBC News 08/10/13
Pupils Behind at Seven fail to catch up - BBC News 07/10/2012
Children too embarrassed to read is an issue that should worry us all, Telegraph 07/10/13
Third of pupils to get help after failing literary test, Telegraph 03/10/2013
Six Year Olds Struggling to read basic words - Telegraph 04/10/13
BBC - Childhood Damaged by Over-testing - 01/10/13
Poet Laureate Open Letter to the Times 01/10/13
Children as young as five suffering from depression, Telegraph 30/09/2013
Tim Hands, Love has disappeared from State Education, the Guardian, 30/09/13
Robin Alexander - Insulting opponents is the real enemy of progress - TES Blog 26/09/13
Phys.Org on the School Starting Age 25/09/13
Open Letter signatory David Whitebread on the school starting age 24/09/13
Shona Sibary in the Mail Online 18/09/13
Mind your language  - Voice Union Blog 16/09/13
Richard House, Nursery World 16/09/13
Fullfact.org 16/09/13
Janet Street Porter in the Independent 15/09/13
Fiona Phillips in the Mirror 14/09/13
The Deep End - Time for a grown-up debate on early years education 14/09/13
Sir Al Aynsley-Green talks to Mumsnet 14/09/13
Richard House in the Telegraph 14/09/13
Parentdish 13/09/13
Sherborne Headmaster Peter Tait in the Telegraph 13/09/13
School for four-year-olds: Should I send my daughter to school or off to play Pooh Sticks? Judith Woods in the Telegraph 13/09/13
TES Report by Helen Ward 12/09/13
Medical Daily - Starting School Young Is 'Too Much, Too Soon': Should Kids Start School Before Age 6? By Susan Scutti Sep 13, 2013 
Tom Chivers in the Telegraph 12/09/13
David Whitebread discussion with Eric Ollerenshaw on the BBC World at One: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b039rqpv (12 mins in)

Initial Coverage
Daily Telegraph - main item
Daily Telegraph - Comment Piece
Daily Telegraph Response from Liz Truss 
The Times 12/09/13
Daily Mail 12/09/13
Daily Express 12/09/13
Indepedendent 12/09/13
The Guardian 12/09/13
The Standard 12/09/13
BBC News 12/09/13
Sky News 12/09/13
Catherine Prisk, Radio 5 Live
Chlldren and Young People Now 
Mr Gove - Stop it  3D Eye Blog
Simon Jenkins Piece in the Guardian 12/09/13
Toby Young in the Telegraph 12/09/13
The Guardian's Poll on the School Starting Age 12/09/13
Dr David Whitebread talking on Radio 4 News (20min)
Mary Bousted and LIz Truss on Newsnight
Laura McCardle's piece in Day Nurseries.co.uk 12/09/13
Early years experts unite over later school start Nursery World, 12/09/13
Children and Young People Now 12/09/13
The Week, 12/09/13

Related Coverage
The Guardian on Ofsted's pressure on primary schools 18/09/13
News.com.AU Australia- Ban kids from school until they are five 21/09/13'30s4

Key Campaign Spokespeople

Dr David Whitebread, Director, PEDal Centre, University of Cambridge, Research Director, Save Childhood Movement 

Sue Palmer, Author, Presenter and Independent Consultant, Ambassador - Save Childhood Movement

Wendy Scott, OBE, President, Association for the Professional Development of Early Years Educators (TACTYC): 

Dr Pam Jarvis, Senior Lecturer at Leeds Trinity University, Children, Young People and Families team 

SCM Early Years Education Group - Press Releases

Early Years sector unites in the call to oppose Baseline Assessment 19/03/15
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Early Years Sector Unites to Protect Childhood - Press Release 23/04/14
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Early Years Manifesto - 'Putting Children First' Press Release 11/03/14
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Open Letter to the Telegraph Press Release 12/09/13

See what we have to say about
 Baseline Testing

and Two Year Olds in Schools

They're too young to fail