Children starting school in nappies and clambering out of buggies when they reach the school gate. Four-year-olds unable to communicate or socialise with their peers. These scenes are all too familiar in today’s Reception classes. But what steps can be taken to help children become school-ready?
Being developmentally ready for school refers to children’s ability to communicate, dress themselves, eat and go to the toilet independently. It also refers to their ability to play, share and take-turns. But rising numbers of children across England are entering Reception classes without having met these developmental milestones. This makes it difficult for them to access the education on offer.
Rise in developmental delays
High quality early years settings play a crucial role in supporting children’s healthy development. This includes their language, social, emotional, and physical skills, and their behaviour.
Schools and nurseries are already concerned about children’s speech and language. Since the pandemic, significant numbers of children are below their age-related expectations at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
But a new report by Child of the North and the Centre for Young Lives think tank outlines the scale of the rise in early years developmental delays since Covid-19. This has led to a third of children starting Reception classes in England not being ready for school. Among children receiving free school meals, this figure rises to 45 percent.
Anne Longfield, executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives, says that she has heard ‘many concerning experiences’ from school staff. ‘Children are arriving at Reception wearing nappies, still using buggies, and unable to communicate at the expected level or to socialise with other children.
‘Some of these children have developmental problems, struggle with speech and behaviour, and can require significant extra attention and support from already overstretched schools,’ she adds.
Quality of provision
The think tank is calling on the Government to tackle the crisis in early years that is contributing to the decline in children being school-ready. It says that the preschool system is ‘underfunded and disjointed’. It is also struggling with a recruitment and retention crisis that is ‘putting the quality of provision for children at risk’.
The Government has committed to opening 300 new state nurseries by next September. ‘This is an opportunity for schools and communities in disadvantaged areas to tackle the problems associated with school-readiness head on’,explains Anne Longfield.
Some of the suggestions included in the report include:
- new early years support to boost children’s development and tackle poverty by providing childcare support to help parents work.
- more home visits to ensure better pre-and post-natal health, fewer childhood injuries and improved school readiness.
Cara Brundle,National Day Nurseries Association’s (NDNA’s), director of business development, says thatit is ‘worrying that 30 percent of four to five-year olds are not considered school ready’.
‘The PVI sector delivers 86 per cent of the total childcare places … so it’s vital that policy recommendations and solutions reflect the needs of all children and families, within a range of different settings. Evidence based programmes like NDNA’s Maths Champions leave a lasting legacy of increased skills, knowledge and confidence, so practitioners can support children’s early mathematics and language development,’ she adds.
How to boost school readiness
Here are some programmes outlined in the report that can boost school readiness in your setting. Or, you can pass some of the ideas onto parents:
- The Nuffield Early Language Intervention Preschool, designed to boost children’s language skills and better prepare them for starting school.
- 50 Things To Do Before You’re Five, an initiative offering families fun, low-cost or free activities to help young children build the skills, language, and resilience needed for school readiness.
- Sheffield Small Talk, a speech and language therapy clinic providing no-cost provision for all preschool children with SEND.
Long term impact
Children who start behind, often stay behind. This is a key concern among policy makers that has been backed up through research. More than half of the children who were not school-ready did not meet the ‘expected level’ in their Key Stage 1 reading assessment, for example.
But as policy makers grapple with the long-term implications of school-readiness, Reception teachers are dealing with the real-life implications of a classroom full of 30 four-years olds, some of which are not toilet trained. Others who are unable to listen to basic instructions or interact with others.
It begs the question, are schools ready to meet the needs of today’s developing four-year-olds?
Nicole
Content Creator
