A significantly high proportion of learning takes place from birth to age six. It is a time when children particularly need high quality care and learning experiences. The aim of the Government's early years policy is to provide a comprehensive range of services for young children. This includes integrated early years education and childcare provision which will make a positive contribution to children's early development, enabling them to build on this foundation throughout their lives, so providing a sound basis for lifelong learning. High quality care and education for young children will give parents peace of mind and help them to balance their work and family lives.
Education begins in the home and continues there and in a range of settings.
Through initiatives such as Sure Start and Early Excellence Centres, the Government is pioneering ways to improve support for families and children before and from birth. Since September 1998, a free, part-time early years education place has been made available for all four year old children whose parents want one. These places are in a variety of settings. Most children transfer to the reception year in a primary school during the year in which they reach compulsory school age, the term after their fifth birthday. The period from age three to the end of the reception year is described as the foundation stage.