Half of children not ‘developmentally’ ready to start primary school, survey shows
Parents are struggling to ensure their children are ready to start school, teachers have warned.
Almost half of child pupils beginning primary school are not “developmentally” ready with some not having been toilet trained or having basic language skills.
Nearly three-quarters of leaders are concerned parents are spending too much time on their phones and tablets, while 66% say the pandemic still plays a part.
It compares to 89% of parents believing their child was ready for school.
Teachers noted that many parents are simply unaware of teachers’ expectations.
More than half of parents said more information on the definition and importance of school readiness should be provided.
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The findings come from a survey of 1,000 primary school teachers and 1,000 parents of reception-age children, which was carried out by YouGov and commissioned by children’s charity Kindred.
It found staff are being taken away from other priorities for around 2-3 hours per day to deal with pupils who aren’t school ready.
A senior teacher from the West Midlands told the survey: “Teachers often can’t get down to the ‘meat and potatoes’ of teaching the curriculum because they’re doing things like changing wet children, dealing with emotional outbreaks.
“Many of our reception staff, especially this autumn term, have missed out on their lunches and thus their prep time due to supporting children who can’t feed themselves.”
A teacher from London said: “It’s very hard to get children back on track and they stay ‘below’ throughout their time at school, despite our best efforts with intervention.”
Felicity Gillespie, director at Kindred, said: “Too many children are behind before they begin because as a nation we are not prioritising the raising of children at the very time in their lives when their brains are most receptive to stimulation and interaction with older children and adults.
She added: “We need a national conversation about the importance of the early years of development. And as a first step, we need clear, timely and accessible information on the simple, easy steps every parent can be taking from the birth of their babies to support their development.”
James Bowen, director of policy for school leaders’ union the NAHT, said: “Even before the pandemic, there was lack of specialist help for families with issues such as their children’s social development, speech and language.
“The pandemic and lockdowns have undoubtedly had an impact on the development of some children and led to additional demand being placed on already overstretched services.
“The government needs to invest much more in specialist and universal early years services for disadvantaged families and massively expand its new network of family hubs so all families that need them have access.”
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