Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:43 pm on 22 September 2020.
I thank Jenny Rathbone for that question and for her contribution. And, of course, she's absolutely right, it's crucial for women in particular that we offer the opportunities so that they are able to work and fulfil their potential, as well as the children's potential.
I think that Flying Start has been one of our flagship programmes, and it has been, from the evidence that we've seen so far, extremely successful. I know that we've all heard headteachers say, 'Oh you know if the children have come from a Flying Start background.' The speech and language provision in Flying Start has been absolutely outstanding. So, I think we know what it is that we can do, and what we have to do is look towards extending what is provided in Flying Start much more widely. It's obviously on a geographic basis and we are more flexible now in terms of trying to get outreach for opening it up to people from outside the Flying Start areas, but that is, as I see it, the key of quality provision.
So, I think that we are considering ways of extending Flying Start, and I think that that is—. I absolutely agree with Jenny Rathbone that we are way behind Scandinavian countries, but we are making progress, and I think providing that high-quality early years is absolutely essential, so that children from deprived communities are able to enter school equally, and the evidence from Flying Start is that they do. So, we have got the key to it, and that's what we need to pursue.