Recent DfE figures confirm how far girls are ahead of boys in their learning, and how early this starts.  74% of the youngest children achieved their expected level of development, compared with 59% of boys.  The figures for specific areas were as follows: - writing:  78/64 - reading:  82/71 - arithmetic: 81/74. The Guardian's headline read:  " Girls starting school outperform boys in every learning goal", as they do throughout their educational careers.   The same paper carried a profile yesterday of  Becky Francis, an education adviser.   According to the interview, Francis has argued for 20 years that too much attention has been paid 'to a relatively small gender gap,…