It’s been quite a week! My youngest child has finally dropped her school uniform in the laundry bin for the last time with only a few GCSEs between her and her plans for a long, lazy summer; and my second oldest has pressed ‘submit’ on her final year psychology dissertation. As I reflect on the many joys and occasional challenges of cheerleading my four through the teenage and young adult years, I look back at their toddler days and marvel at the amount of growth and change humans cram into a couple of decades. I also reflect on how much a good start in life matters – for children and their families - in the years that follow.

Every time we impact positively on an infant’s life, we are strengthening their foundations for the whole life-course ahead and one of the great pleasures of the early years is that so much of this foundation-building happens so playfully. Blowing raspberries on a tiny tummy, playing games of peekaboo, discovering (and then identifying!) that ‘stranger’ in the mirror; shaping and cutting playdough, moving onto real dough (licking the bowl!), first encounter with a lemon; singing and chanting together to nursery rhymes and songs, sharing a favourite picture book again and again (Not Now Bernard!); piling blocks, pouring mixtures and making ‘potions’; rolling down a grassy hillside and running back to the top for another go, chalking hopscotch on the paving – skipping and counting, skimming stones, or watching them go ‘plop’, the teeming life in a rockpool, “I can see the sea!”.

This extraordinary voyage of discovery, that is such a privilege to share, helps our children to discover and understand themselves as individuals; to understand that they are unique and that they belong. It helps them find their own voice and the confidence to share their own ideas as well as to listen and learn from others. They find things out for themselves and remember what they’ve uncovered, making sense of the world piece by piece and starting to shape the world around them. With freedom and space (and encouragement) to play, their bodies become strong and resilient, they learn safely what risks they can take and which they should avoid. Every aspect of this development brings them pleasure and excitement in the moment and sets them up for the future.

I hope I’ve painted a picture of a magical infancy, that resonates for many of us. But we know that this is not the experience of every baby or toddler. Some of our little ones may have never set their bare feet on grass, never mind dipped a toe in the sea. Some may hear more arguments than nursery rhymes. Some may spend much more of the day than they should in a car seat or pushchair.

It’s the irreplaceable potency of this time that makes me yearn for a conversation about early years that goes beyond ‘childcare’, vital though that is.

Every new child we welcome to the world is brimming with human potential: all kinds of futures are possible. We owe it to every child to find a way to fill those early years with discovery and opportunity, with play and laughter, with love and comfort. 15 or 30 hours of free childcare is a hugely important offer for working parents, but it’s what we do with every hour that counts.