Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help schools improve the cultural literacy of pupils aged four and five.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets out the learning and development requirements which all early years settings and schools are required to follow. This ensures all children from birth to five are supported throughout the EYFS and attain a good level of development - at the end of reception- ready to begin Year 1. This provides a firm basis for cultural literacy through the seven areas of learning: communication and language; physical development; personal, social and emotional development; literacy; mathematics; understanding the world; and expressive arts and design.

The Department’s proposed reforms to the EYFS, including revisions to the curriculum activities and assessment goals under the seven areas of learning, are intended to improve early language and literacy outcomes for all children - particularly those from a disadvantaged background. The reforms provide opportunities for teachers to support children’s cultural literacy through reading from a range of fiction and non-fiction books, singing rhymes and poems and visits to parks, museums and libraries. Strengthening teaching practice in these areas can enable all children to flourish as they move through school and beyond.