Our Best Start in Life Local Plan
The Norfolk Best Start in Life Local Plan outlines our collective ambition to give every child the strongest foundation for lifelong learning, health, and wellbeing.
Building on the national Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life strategy and informed by guidance on Best Start Family Hubs and Best Start Healthy Babies, the plan provides a clear framework for collaboration across health, education, and community services to improve outcomes for children and families.
Central to this approach is prevention and early intervention, removing barriers to opportunity and ensuring support is accessible, integrated, and tailored to local needs. In alignment with the Department for Education's (DfE) statutory targets, we aim to increase the proportion of children in Norfolk achieving a Good Level of Development (GLD) by age five, reaching 76.3% for all children and 55.7% for those eligible for Free School Meals by 2028.
The plan sets out how we will collectively support families and provide help to those who need it through: preventative activities and interventions which support health, wellbeing and development needs; supporting strong home learning environments; securing and promoting the benefits of high quality childcare that enables families to thrive; promoting equitable access to early education to ensure all children become confident learners through early years and beyond and learning gaps do not emerge.
