Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that schools encourage shared reading among children in their first 1,001 days.

The statutory guidance 'early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework' sets education requirements that early years settings must follow to ensure that every child aged 0 to 5 has the best start in life. The EYFS recognises that it is crucial for young children to begin to develop a life-long love of reading and requires practitioners to read frequently to children, and actively engage them in a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems. The framework can be found in full at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2

The department provides a range of online resources which support settings to deliver the statutory EYFS requirements well for all children, including the ‘Development Matters’ guidance, the department’s reading framework, and the National Year of Reading website. The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign aiming to tackle long-term declines in reading enjoyment, with early years being one of the priority groups. It includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout the year.