SNP to debate school start age

A SHAKE-UP of Scotland’s education system which would see a kindergarten stage for three to six-year-olds will be debated at the SNP’s conference.

Toni Guigliano, the party’s policy convener, has said that it would have a positive impact on young children.

The move would bring Scotland into line with countries such as Finland, where formal education starts at seven.

The Scottish Government welcomed the debate but said it had no plans to raise the school age.

Mr Guigliano said said: ‘We are seeing more children with mental health problems.

‘We are seeing more children with additional support needs and an attainment gap that is not narrowing at the scale that we would like. So what we are asking for is a culture shift in how we do early years education in this country.

‘When your education standards are slipping, you don’t double down on reading and writing in the early years.

‘You look at wellbeing. You look at development. That’s the way to approach it.’

The proposal would see a kindergarten stage for three to six-year-olds, which would increase early years education by 12 months.

This would be followed by six years of formal primary education.

The proposal does not include a timeframe as Mr Guigliano said there would have to be investment in staff and training.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), told BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show that he believed in a play-based approach to early years learning.

But he said ‘insufficient resources’ had been put in place in the current system.

Mr Flanagan said: ‘We are not opposed to a strategy of kindergarten stage but you would have to look at resources, you would have to look at the training for staff.

‘And we are very clear that you have to look at a very firm role for teachers within that continuum because we don’t want a kindergarten stage which is disconnected from formal primary education.’