The Education Secretary and fellow North East MP, Bridget Phillipson told me in the Commons that it is in schools such as Battle Hill that where we will make the biggest difference to children’s life chances.
She rightly said that all the evidence is clear that where gaps open up early, they endure into the long run, which has a lasting impact on children’s ability to do well at school and get good GCSEs and on their earnings potential.
The local school’s Headteacher Ruth Jobey tells me that it has 52% pupil premium and includes 10% of pupils who live in the 20% most deprived areas nationally.
Children growing up with both socioeconomic and home disadvantages are affected negatively, especially in language, social and emotional development, and self-regulation.
This is part of a wider range of positive policies for our pupils. Free breakfast clubs are already being introduced, the curriculum and assessment review is in full swing, and children’s social care is seeing the biggest overhaul in a generation.
There is also funding for 10,000 new places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, backing for about 10,000 more apprentices to qualify, new improvement teams for our schools, and a new allowance for kinship carers.
Early years are where life chances are boosted and how healthier societies are built. It’s all very welcome.