UK education leaders pledge commitment to new early childhood guide

Capital City College (CCC) has joined fellow education leaders from across the UK in pledging to embed a new early childhood guide into teaching, training and professional practice.  

This follows a launch by The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood and a visit by Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales, held at the University of East London (UEL) earlier this month. 

In 2024, The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood commissioned Ipsos to conduct a twelve-month research project to better understand parents’ experiences of early parenthood, how they access information and how early years practitioners can engage with them.  

The report, Foundations for Life: A Guide to Social and Emotional Development, found that: 

• Parents place a high value on social and emotional development, with more than four in five recognising its role in shaping wellbeing, relationships and mental health across the life course.
   
• However, parents tend to describe their child’s behaviour and milestones in everyday terms, rather than using formal early years language. 
  
  
• Many parents feel overwhelmed by conflicting information and want clear, trusted guidance to help them make confident decisions. 

Capital City College welcomed the report, and during a visit by Her Royal Highness, pledged alongside 23 leaders from further and higher education institutions across the UK to:

• Embed social and emotional development within curricula, workforce development, and professional training pathways 

• Champion the earliest years as foundational to lifelong outcomes, ensuring this is reflected across our institutions and networks 

• Translate evidence into action, strengthening the connection between research, education, and practice 

• Elevate the early years workforce, recognising the expertise, value, and impact of those working directly with young children and families 

• Strengthen cross-sector collaboration, working in partnership with health, education, and community systems to support children and families 

• Advocate for sustained focus and investment in early childhood, recognising its long-term societal and economic benefits. 

Mark Burrows, Group Principal for Adults and Higher Education at CCC, said: “At Capital City College, we welcome this important work from the Centre for Early Childhood. Foundations for Life: A Guide to Social and Emotional Development strengthens understanding across the early years system of why social and emotional development matters so profoundly and how these skills begin to take shape from the very earliest months of life.

“Working with employers and industry leaders, we will continue to emphasise and strengthen our early years education curriculum’s focus on essential human skills as the foundations for wellbeing, learning and future employment, aligned to this important publication and its work.” 

Angela Joyce, Chief Executive of Capital City College, said: “We are pleased to be one of 24 universities and colleges across the UK to be invited by The Royal Foundation to sign the pledge championing this new Foundations for Life guide. It was an honour to meet HRH The Princess of Wales as part of the launch and to hear her clear commitment to this important work.” 

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