Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to respond to the recommendations of the Ofsted report entitled Bold beginnings: The Reception curriculum in a sample of good and outstanding primary schools, published in November 2017.

Access to a high-quality education from the earliest age is vital for giving all children the very best start in life, and to lay the foundation for success at primary school and beyond. We are in the process of making improvements to the early years foundation stage profile, as set out in the government response to the primary assessment consultation, published in September: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/644871/Primary_assessment_consultation_response.pdf. This includes revising the communication and language early learning goals (ELGs) to focus on developing children’s vocabulary and strengthen numeracy, reading and writing skills. We have also recently announced a series of programmes to tackle these early skills in Reception, including through our £140 million Strategic School Improvement Fund.