Commenting as the Secretary of State for Education today announces a new 'national effort' and statutory targets to get children ready for school, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“The government is absolutely right to make the early years a priority. We know that high quality early years education and support can have a lasting impact on children’s life chances.

“School leaders have seen first hand the impact of the erosion of early years services, with more and more children arriving at school having not received the support they desperately need and deserve.

“Our caution to government is that targets alone won’t solve the problem, and targets must not become another stick to beat schools with. We hope that today’s announcement will be followed shortly with further information about the tangible actions government will take to ensure every young child and family gets the support they need.”