Pre-school provision 'makes a difference'

A major British study investigating the effects of pre-school provision has found that pre-school experience, compared to none, enhances the all-round development of children.

And the earlier they start, the better their intellectual development, although the gains from full-time attendance were no better than from part-time provision, the study found.

"Disadvantaged children in particular can benefit significantly from good quality pre-school experiences, especially where they are with a mixture of children from different social backgrounds," researcher Sylva Kathy, of Oxford University, told the conference.

Another key finding of the study is that the quality of pre-school is directly related to better cognitive and social/behavioural development in children.

Prof. Sylva gave a keynote lecture called Making a Difference in the Lives of Young Children: Evidence from the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education Project. The project is the first major European longitudinal study of a national sample of young children's development between the ages of three and seven.

3,000 children were involved in the study, and the research team also studied their parents, home environments and the pre-school settings they attended.

The project, said Prof. Sylva, demonstrated the positive effects of high quality provision on children's intellectual, social and behavioural development, measured at the start of primary school.

Another two researchers who studied 800 Northern Irish children reported a similar finding: In comparison with children who stayed at home, pre-school experience had a positive impact on cognitive outcomes.

The paper on this study was presented by Quinn Louise, from Stannmillis University College in Belfast, and Hanna Karen, Birbek University of London.