Details of a new curriculum for babies and toddlers were unveiled by education secretary Ruth Kelly earlier this month.

Combining the Birth to Three Framework and the Foundation Stage for three to five-year-olds, the curriculum will be known as the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

The aim is for a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities, with children learning through planned, purposeful play'.

The EYFS sets out six areas of learning covering personal, social and emotional communication, language and literacy, problem solving, reasoning and numeracy, knowledge and understanding of the world plus physical and creative development.

The curriculum will be enforced in nurseries across England from 2008 but education providers will be sent information packs on the curriculum in September, enabling them to follow it earlier if they wish.

This new system forms part of the Government's 10-year strategy for childcare, which includes the recently-introduced free entitlement of 12-and-a-half hours of early education for three and four-year-olds for 38 weeks of the academic year.

Ms Kelly said: "Parents themselves often have to make difficult decisions about how best to combine work with family life.

"The Government's role must be to provide parents with choice and ensure all children have access to affordable and high-quality childcare."

She added: "We know high quality early care and education provision boosts children's later achievement."

Katie Ruecroft, manager at Chatterbox Day Nursery, Blackfen Road, Sidcup, has welcomed the news.

She said: "I believe the EYFS will be great for under fives.

"The two seperate curriculums currently mean some children may be forced to move up when they are not ready and other, brighter children may be ready to take the next step earlier.

"The new curriculum will enable them to move at their own pace, making sure they are fully ready for infant school when they reach five years old."

Full details of the EYFS can be found on the website everychildmatters.gov.uk