This chapter focuses on publicly funded early years provision for three- and four-year-olds. It also includes information on publicly funded provision for some disadvantaged two-year-olds.

This phase of education is not compulsory.

For information on four-year-olds in the reception class of primary school, see the chapter on ‘Primary Education’.

Structure and organisation

Providers

Publicly funded early years education for children aged three and four is provided in maintained nursery schools or in nursery classes in maintained primary schools. In addition, places are available in integrated children’s centres, which also offer open access play, community education and training, and other family support services; and in private and voluntary settings, such as day nurseries, playgroups and registered childminders. These places are supported by government funding subject to meeting certain requirements. In the voluntary sector, Mudiad Meithrin is the main provider of Welsh-medium early years education and care, principally through its Welsh-medium playgroups.

The Welsh Government has set targets to expand and develop government-funded early years education and childcare over recent years. As a result, all three- and four-year-olds are now entitled to a free part-time place. This is available for a minimum of 10 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year. Working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds can access 30 hours of early education and childcare per week for up to 48 weeks of the year. The 30 hours entitlement, which was available across Wales from September 2020, is made up of a minimum of 10 hours of early education a week and a maximum of 20 hours a week of childcare. Parents can choose to pay for additional provision on top of the free provision they receive.

There is no universal, publicly funded provision for children under the age of three, but targeted provision is offered under the Welsh Government’s Flying Start programme. This includes family support and child and family health services, along with part-time childcare for the most disadvantaged two-year-olds. Childcare is offered to parents of all eligible children for 12.5 hours per week for 39 weeks of the year, supplemented by at least 15 sessions of provision during school holidays.

For babies and infants up to age two, there is no entitlement to publicly funded provision. Parents can choose to pay for childcare using privately-run or voluntary sector day nurseries, childminders or nannies.

Curriculum and assessment

All publicly funded early years settings must follow the Foundation Phase Framework. This is the statutory curriculum for the Foundation Phase, which spans both early years provision (ages three to five) and the first two years of primary education (ages five to seven). The Framework is based on the principle that children learn better through first-hand practical experiences, play and active involvement. It emphasises early literacy, numeracy and the development of personal and social skills.

Assessment of children in the pre-compulsory years of the Foundation Phase is not a statutory requirement, but the Foundation Phase Framework provides a structure for continuous assessment based on provider observation of children’s everyday activities. Statutory assessment in the reception class in primary education and at the end of the Foundation Phase is described in the article on ‘Assessment in Primary Education’.

Participation

The table below shows the number of children in maintained (publicly funded) nurseries and primary schools in Wales in January 2020.

Source: School Census Results, 2020, Table 3.

Legal framework

Section 118 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 placed a statutory duty on local authorities (LAs) to ensure the provision of nursery education in their area for children who have reached a certain age. Since September 2005, under the Education (Nursery Education and Early Years Development and Childcare Plans) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2005, LAs have had to offer free, part-time provision to all children whose parents want it, starting the term after their third birthday. Settings receiving government funding to provide these places are required to deliver the statutory Foundation Phase Framework , and to undergo inspections by Estyn, the office of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales.

The Childcare Act 2006 also placed a statutory duty on LAs in Wales to:

• secure sufficient childcare within their areas for working parents (when determining whether provision is sufficient, they must have regard to the needs of parents in their area for Welsh-medium provision);
• ensure that parents have access to adequate information on childcare and other children’s services. 

Childminding and day care

The legislative framework for the registration and regulation of childminders and providers of day care in Wales is provided through the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010, which requires the Welsh Government to keep a register of all childminders and those who provide day care for children. This role is carried out by the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW). Childminders and day care providers must register with the CIW in order to operate. The 2010 Measure was amended by the Regulation of Child Minding and Day Care (Wales) Order 2016, which increased the maximum age of children that childminders and day care providers may be registered to look after from 8 to 12.

Main national policy aims and general objectives

The Welsh Government has published a range of documents which reflect its key policy aims and objectives for early childhood education and care.

Programme for Government

Taking Wales Forward, the Programme for Government 2016 to 2021, included the objective of increasing the offer of funded early years education and childcare. This offer was to increase from 10 to 30 hours per week, and from 38 to 48 weeks of the year for working parents of three- and four-year-olds. The increased hours were first piloted in 14 of Wales’ 22 local authorities (LAs), and all LAs began to offer the increased hours by September 2020. Taking Wales Forward also sets out plans for a new model of ‘Community Learning Centres’ providing extended services such as childcare, parenting support, family learning, and community access to facilities built around the school day.

Prosperity for All: the national strategy (2017) takes forward the Programme for Government commitments. It highlights the early years as one of five cross-cutting priorities for the Welsh Government, recognising that these play a crucial part in shaping a child’s future and their chances of leading a healthy, prosperous and fulfilling life. The strategy includes a series of actions for the Government to ensure that ‘children from all backgrounds […] have the best start in life [and] […] the opportunity to reach their full potential and lead a healthy, prosperous and fulfilling life, enabling them to participate fully in their communities and contribute to the future economic success of Wales’ (page 23). The strategy confirms the Welsh Government’s intention to increase the education and childcare offer for working parents, and includes actions to:

• create a more responsive system that puts the needs of each child at its heart;
• ensure consistent delivery and regulation of early years  provision;
• deliver coherent and extended support for parenting

National mission and the new Curriculum for Wales

Also in 2017, the Welsh Government published Education in Wales: Our national mission, which outlines its strategy for improving the school system by 2021. This has a focus on implementing the new Curriculum for Wales for 3- to 16-year-olds.

As part of the first objective outlined in the strategy, ‘Developing a high-quality education profession’, the Government has outlined its plans to:

‘establish a national approach to reducing infant class sizes in order to improve the quality of learning and teaching of those most adversely affected by deprivation and to support the continued development of the principles and best practice of the Foundation Phase’ (page 26).

The new Curriculum for Wales is expected to be in place in all maintained schools and government-funded early years settings by September 2022. It will replace the Foundation Phase Framework for three- to seven-year-olds. As a consequence, the Foundation Phase Action Plan, published in 2016, will be further developed and adapted in line with the new curriculum.

Welsh-medium Education Strategy

To support the vision of a bilingual Wales and the Welsh Language Strategy, the Welsh Government has also developed a Welsh-medium Education Strategy. This sets out its ambition for a country where Welsh-medium education and training are integral parts of the education infrastructure, and for an education system that makes it possible for more learners of all ages to acquire a wider range of language skills in Welsh. The strategy’s objectives include:

• encouraging increased access to Welsh-medium early years provision;
• improving the assessment of parental preference for the language medium of childcare and early years provision in those local authorities (LAs) in which a choice between Welsh- and English-medium provision is offered.

To support implementation of the strategy, all LAs must have Welsh in Education Strategic Plans in place. A National Assembly for Wales Research Service briefing published in August 2016, provides an overview of Welsh-medium education provision in Wales.

Article last reviewed December 2020.