Half young children underachieve

The framework for children's early learning is changing

There has been an improvement in the proportion of little children in England achieving the official "early learning goals", statistics show.

But half (51%) still were not showing good development in 2008 at the end of the foundation stage, aged about five.

The weakest area was writing, with only 61% able to write their own names.

They were best at physical development (89% working securely), numbers (88%) and personal, social and emotional development (88%).

Girls generally continued to achieve at a higher level than boys, with a gender gap of at least six percentage points in each assessment area, according to England's Department for Children, Schools and Families.

SIX EARLY LEARNING AREAS personal, social and emotional development communication, language and literacy mathematical development knowledge and understanding of the world physical development creative development

Children's minister Beverley Hughes said: "This year's results show continued improvements, and the progress of the lowest achieving children is particularly encouraging.

"This is a credit to the hard work of mothers and fathers and those working in early years to give young children the best possible start in life."

It showed that the government's reforms and investment in the early years were starting to have an impact, but there was more to do.

Shadow family minister Maria Miller said: "These disturbing figures show that the department have missed their targets and children are falling back in almost every area of development.

"It is unacceptable that the government is still failing to give children, particularly from the most deprived backgrounds, the best start in life."

The statistics came out as a new early years foundation stage was being introduced across all childcare settings and reception classes in England, involving 69 learning goals.

In Wales, on the other hand, the first generation of children to follow "ground-breaking" play-based learning is starting school.

The foundation phase there includes classes outdoors and experience of the environment.