Oxfordshire to scrap Government target for child development

A file image of a child being supported. <i>(Image: Freepik)</i>
A file image of a child being supported. (Image: Freepik)
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Oxfordshire County Council is expected to scrap the Government's targets for child development in favour of its own.

The council has outlined their strategy and aims for giving young children the 'best start to life', following Government guidelines.

To reach the national ambition of 75 per cent of five-year-olds to achieve a good level of development, each local authority has been given a target.

Oxfordshire was given the aim of 77.8 per cent of children at a good level of development, with all free school meal eligible children at 50.8 per cent.

However, the council has branded the national targets as "not ambitious enough" and "unacceptable" when it came to children who receive free school meals.

Instead the council aims to have 79.8 per cent of all eligible children at a 'good level of development'.

It is also aiming for 59.8 per cent of all free school meal children at a 'good level of development'.

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The 'good level of development' is achieved through a series of 12 goals for children at the end of reception.

The assessment include following instructions, asking questions, playing with others, and using tools such as scissors or pencils.

The goals also include reading sentences aloud, writing, telling new stories, and understanding numbers up to 10.

The strategy includes improving family services, providing high quality support to parents and children from pregnancy to age five, and more accessible early education and childcare.

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