To ask the Minister of Education (i) what plans his Department has to better understand the causes of anxiety among children in pre-school settings; and (ii) what interventions he can take forward to support those young children who are experiencing anxiety.

Early Years foundations are set through early years programmes such as the Infant Mental Health Framework for NI; the ‘Getting Ready’ Suite of Programmes; Sure Start; the Pre-school education programme and Healthy Child, Healthy Future (HCHF).

A Refresh of the DoH Healthy Child Healthy Future framework is currently underway with my officials representing the Department on the Programme Board in addition to being a member of the Healthy Child Healthy Future Pre-School Group which are both helping to shape the future of the framework for the universal Child Health Promotion Programme in Northern Ireland.

In relation to the Children & Young People’s Emotional Health and Wellbeing in Education Framework (the Framework), while mainly focused on children and young people in primary and post primary schools, the underlying principles equally apply to early years settings. In fact the Framework takes a lead from the cross government policies for early years which prepare children for life, support them to gain a desire for learning and to be ready for school, and builds upon these at each stage of a child’s journey throughout education.

My department also funds the Getting Ready to Learn (GRtL) programme which is available to all funded pre-school settings. This includes a ‘Happy Healthy Kids’ theme designed to support the physical and emotional development of pre-school age children. Parents are also provided with material to help them build on this learning at home.