The announcement this week of a 45% uplift to the Early Years Pupil Premium is the right way to ensure greater targeting of spend on disadvantaged children. Together with our partners at the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, SHINE has consistently advocated for additional funding to support disadvantaged students in this phase. Next, we need to ensure early years providers have access to well-evidenced programmes, so the money is used effectively. 

Research consistently shows that the attainment gap between children from low-income homes and their wealthier peers begins right from their earliest years. According to a study by the University of Newcastle in 2017, for example, low vocabulary skills at the age of 4 are associated not only with lower adult literacy at 34 years but also with poor mental health and employability outcomes. Unless we provide additional support to these children early on, there is a very real danger that they will never catch up. 

The previous annual rate of Pupil Premium funding for the early years was £388 per pupil, and as an NAO report acknowledged earlier this year, the DfE lacked any specific rationale for this funding amount or why it was so much lower than the allocation given to primary school age children (£1,480). 

For the past seven years, SHINE has been supporting innovative approaches to improving the attainment of disadvantaged students across the North. In total, we have invested almost £2.5 million into 34 projects and through these we have identified some highly effective approaches. 

Boromi is one such project which SHINE is now supporting to scale-up across the North, based on evidence of promise so far.  

Boromi Play Libraries hosted within primary schools provide free play bags for 3-5-year-olds each term for families to borrow, take home and explore together. 

Earlier this year, an evaluation by ImpactEd found that the children who accessed Boromi Play Libraries made impressive strides in their language and communication skills, showed better social and emotional development, and demonstrated more positive behaviour at both school and home. 

Teachers reported that these children’s communication, language, and speaking abilities improved by 19.3 percentage points during the 2023-24 school year. 

We are so proud to have played a role in the scale-up of early years programmes to more than 200 schools and community settings in the North so far, and we look forward to continuing to spread good practice across areas of disadvantage as a core part of our strategy to 2029. 

Additional funding for the Early Years Pupil Premium could be a huge opportunity to support disadvantaged children in a critical educational phase. We are committed to playing our part in helping ensure this funding is spent well.