Why is education attainment one of the main markers of wellbeing through the course of someone’s life?

The main reason that I started Creative Minds Tutors 3 years ago was because I had a deep desire to ensure that more children had access to the highest quality education possible. Working full time in a variety of schools for over 13 years, I noticed that there were several things lacking. The main one being enough personalised attention to ensure that all children were able to achieve to the highest of their potential.

As a child myself, I feel that I had to work so hard to be noticed by my teachers. I don’t think that I received enough attention and I don’t think I was given the best opportunities by the schools that I went to. I don’t want this for any child. No matter the education chosen for a child, they deserve the highest quality that will enable them to go on and succeed later in life (whatever that means for them).

Ensuring all children have access the high highest quality education is vital. Not enough children are receiving the highest quality education and therefore there are way too many gaps in children’s knowledge and understanding as they continue through their educational journeys.

Educational attainment is one of the main markers for wellbeing through the life course and so it is important that no child is left behind.

PHE London published a report (2015), ‘Improving school readiness. Creating a better start for London’ which looks at the importance of school readiness.

Considering that ‘school readiness’ is one of the most important components of the 4+ Assessments, it’s imperative that you actually understand what this means.

‘School readiness’ is a measure of how prepared a child is to succeed cognitively, socially and emotionally.

Children who don’t receive a quality level of development by the age of 5 will struggle with:

Social skills

Reading

Maths

Physical skills

All of these will impact their future lives in terms of:

How well they will do with their education

How good their overall health will be

‘School readiness’ is measure using GLD (Good level of development)

A child with a GLD at the Early Years Foundation Stage will have reached the expected level in all the prime areas of learning. Evidence shows that those who do not reach a GLD by age five, will go on to struggle with key skills such as communication, language, literacy and mathematics.

I sadly witnessed this every single day working full time in the state and private education system for over 13 years.

Remember that teachers in schools have to look after 18-32 children so it is up to you to ensure that your child had an excellent GLD.

By having high quality support from parents in their early years, children will be able to acquire the social and emotional skills and deepen their knowledge in order to be ready to succeed later in life.

This is why myself and my clients firmly believe that investing in quality early care and education has a greater return on investment than many other parents can even imagine.