Teachers Poll: Children start school struggling to speak in full sentences
A new poll of more than 500 teachers from across the UK has revealed that children are joining primary school without the speech and language skills needed to learn in the classroom or start to read.
Teachers surveyed said that many children take years to catch up and that this early language gap was dragging down school results and making it harder for them to deliver the curriculum for all children.
According to the survey by Save the Children – part of the Read On. Get On. literacy coalition of leading charities, teachers, parents and businesses - three quarters (75%) of primary school teachers see children arriving in reception class struggling to speak in full sentences. Large number of teachers also reported children arriving at school struggling to follow simple instructions (65% of teachers surveyed) or read words or sentences (81%).
As a result, 8 in 10 teachers (79%) voiced concerns that children may take years to catch up or never close the gap. A quarter of teachers (23%) expect that being behind in speech and language at age five will still affect children when they enter secondary school. 1 in 7 teachers (14%) even expect the impact of poor language skills during a child’s early years to be life-long.
Government figures show that 1 in 4 children starting school in England have failed to develop good early language skills and the polling has revealed that teachers are seeing the impact in their classrooms. 8 in 10 (80%) said extra time is being spent helping children catch up on basic speech and language skills. Two thirds (65%) say that it is harder for teachers to find time to teach other children in the class who don’t struggle with speech and language. More than half said the problem negatively affected school results (56%) and the same proportion (56%) said that poor language development is causing problems in the classroom like poor attention or behaviour.
Teachers also sent a strong message about the role nurseries play in ensuring children arrive at school ready to learn. Evidence from Save the Children and the Read On. Get On. coalition has shown that high quality nurseries led by early years teachers have the biggest positive impact on children’s early language development. This was backed up by teachers, with 8 out of 10 (79%) thinking that investing more in the quality of early years education, like nurseries, would improve primary school results. A mere 15% said they felt the Government was currently investing enough in the early years (nurseries and pre-school education).
Gareth Jenkins, Director of UK Poverty at Save the Children says: “This poll shows the shocking impact of so many children arriving at school without basic speech and language skills. The government has pledged to drive up school standards but it is time that we recognised that nursery standards are just as important in children’s development. Without investment to improve nursery quality we’ll continue to see schools struggling to support the 1 in 4 children who arrive at their gates without the basic language and communication skills needed to read, learn and succeed at in the classroom.”
The poorest children fall the furthest behind in communication, with 1 in 3 children on free school meals reaching age 5 without good language skills. Read On. Get On. evidence has shown that improving nursery quality has the biggest impact on helping the poorest catch up.
Read On. Get On. continues to galvanise the nation to ensure that by 2025, every child is a confident reader by age 11. For more information on Read On. Get On. please visit www.readongeton.co.uk
