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All pre-school children will have the right to expect the same standards of early learning under new government regulations.
The introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) will mean that all childcare providers who are registered with and inspected by Ofsted will now need to offer the same statutory levels of care and learning to under-fives to prepare them for school.
Schools secretary Ed Balls said the new regulations will give special attention to children from more disadvantaged families to prevent them falling behind at an early age.
In a joint letter to the managers of the country's 3,000 children's centres, Balls and children's minister Beverley Hughes said: "The EYFS will help make sure that all young children have the chance to engage in stimulating play and hear and respond to rich and varied language.
"And children's centre staff will be able to use it to engage mothers and fathers, to make sure these experiences are built on at home."
Balls added: "I am driven by a determination to make sure that the most disadvantaged children get the very best start in life. We want to give all children a level playing field and help all parents get the best care and support for their children.
"I believe that every child in this country is entitled to the benefits of learning through play as set out in the EYFS and that their parents are entitled to the reassurance that their children will be well supported and cared for by high quality childminders and nursery workers."
The EYFS applies to all formal childcare settings for children under five and is based on the principles that all children need to play in order to have fun, as well as to begin to understand the world around them.
Instead of testing, early years settings will complete profiles for each child so that primary schools have an accurate picture of the child's development and each child will be allocated a key member of staff to encourage them but allow them to develop at their own pace.
Balls said extra funding will be available to provide 15 hours of free childcare and early learning for the 25 per cent most disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds, a year before their peers receive the same entitlement.
Stakeholder Response: Institute of Education
Dame Gillian Pugh, visiting professor at the Institute of Education told ePolitix.com: "The Early Years Foundation Stage is to be welcomed. Its recommendations for all early years settings are based on current good practice.
"Its main focus is on play-based care and education for young children and its underpinning principles are based on what we know is good for all children - responding to the individuality of the child, in the context of loving and secure relationships, and creating a stimulating and enabling environment.
"It recognises that parents are central to young children's development and requires staff working in early years settings to work in partnership with them.
"Research from the longitudinal EPPE project points to the long lasting impact of high quality care and education for young children, provided by well trained practitioners working in partnership with parents. The research also points out the negative impact of poor quality services.
"The EYFS responds to this research by creating a regulatory framework aimed at raising quality in all early years settings, some of which are, as the recent Ofsted report points out, far from satisfactory.
"There have been criticisms of the EYFS, some of which have been based on a misunderstanding of what it statutory and what is not. I would agree with those who have pointed to the inappropriateness of 2 of the 67 learning goals in the phonics section of the document.
"But this is a tiny section of a much greater whole, and is not a reason to abandon a broad and basically very sound and child-centred document which aims to give all our children the very best start in life."
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