Newcastle has unveiled "ambitious and challenging" plans to provide more children in the city with a better start in life. A multi-million pound strategy aimed at significantly improving the physical and emotional development of Tyneside children up to the age of five was approved by city leaders this week.
The 'Best Start in Life' plan is expected to particularly benefit families in some of Newcastle's most deprived areas, helping youngsters achieve more as they grow up. This comes amid concerns that the city has some of the worst life opportunities in England.
Currently, only 66.4% of Newcastle children achieve a Good Level of Development (GLD), a measure taken at the end of their reception year to assess if they meet expected levels in areas like language, personal, social, and emotional development, as well as maths and reading. This is 1.9% below the national average. Newcastle City Council aims to boost this rate to at least 74.6% by 2029, meaning an extra 244 children would meet their targets compared to today.
The council's new Liberal Democrat administration heard on Monday how extra support would be targeted at families in the inner west and east of Newcastle, children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), those with English as an additional language, and children born in the summer. The plan is expected to be backed by £5.2 million in grant funding over the next three years.
Measures will include running baby programmes to help parents boost communication skills, schemes to improve literacy rates among three and four-year-olds, opening more school-based nurseries, recruiting specialist SEND staff into Best Start Family Hubs, and improving families' uptake of mandatory health visitor checks.
Council leader Colin Ferguson told a cabinet meeting that a child's early years have a "massive impact on future life outcomes," adding: "If we can get this right we can have a transformative effect for young people throughout the course of their life."
Last year, the Sutton Trust ranked Newcastle Central and West as the constituency in England with the worst life opportunities for young people, based on how secondary school children eligible for free school meals (FSM) progress in exam results, access to higher education, employment, and earnings. Latest research, published on Thursday, also ranks it worst in England for the life chances of white working class children specifically. The charity found that only 35% of White British FSM pupils in the centre and west of the city are in sustained employment, apprenticeship, or education after age 16.
Newcastle Green leader Nick Hartley, also a clinical psychologist, told Monday's council cabinet meeting: "I know the evidence very well about how adverse childhood experiences have an impact that lasts across people's lives. If we can intervene early it will make all the difference."
The council report on the Best Start in Life plan adds: "These targets are ambitious and challenging. Newcastle has higher levels of child poverty than many other areas, meaning many children grow up facing additional barriers from an early age. The percentage of children eligible for free school meals continues to rise in Newcastle. Where families are experiencing multiple pressures and facing financial hardship there is a strong link to poor GLD attainment."
