http://www.bbc.com/news/education-56889035
By Branwen Jeffreys
Education Editor
Published8 hours ago
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Coronavirus pandemic
media captionAssistant head teacher Victoria Day has five tips to ensure
children's vocabulary keeps improving
There is growing evidence that the past year of lockdowns has had an
impact on young children's language skills, according to research.
Data from 50,000 pupils and a survey of schools across England have
shown an increased number of four- and five-year-olds needing help with
language.
Evidence shows poor speech development can have long-term effects on
learning.
The government says it is investing £18m in early-years catch-up,
including extra help for those in Reception year.
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) research suggests the measures
taken to combat the pandemic have deprived the youngest children of
social contact and experiences essential for increasing vocabulary.
Less or no contact with grandparents, social distancing, no play dates,
and the wearing of face coverings in public have left children less
exposed to conversations and everyday experiences.
Of 58 primary schools surveyed across England:
76% said pupils starting school in September 2020 needed more support
with communication than in previous years
96% they were concerned about pupils' speech-and-language development.
And 56% of parents were concerned about their child starting at school
following the lockdown in the spring and summer.
Starting school
Niamh, in Reception at Ryders Hayes Primary School, in Walsall, is
slowly building her confidence with words.
Like many children, her life has been limited by the pandemic, her
social circle shrinking to her immediate family. And this left her
mother, Lisa, anxious about her starting school.
Lisa and Niamh
image captionLisa, whose surname we have not used, was worried about her
daughter starting school
"She was one of the youngest in the year and it worried me that other
children had got more school experience with nursery or pre-school,"
Lisa said.
"We tried to prepare her as well as we could. She was looking forward to
it - but she didn't know any of the children in the class, so we were a
bit worried about that.
"My concern was, after being locked down all of the summer and not going
out to play with her friends, how was she going to respond to a room
full of new children and new teachers?"
But the school's approach had worked well. "We never had a tearful
morning - we never had a day where she didn't want to come to school,"
Lisa said.
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Making friends
Another mother at Ryder Hayes - Emma - was also worried about the school
start and whether her son, Harry, would be able to articulate his needs.
"I was worried about him making friends, that if something was troubling
him he'd be sat in the corner upset and he'd not be able to ask for help
or say what was wrong with him, so I was concerned," she said.
Emma and Harry
image captionEmma, whose full name we have not used, says Harry is now
"a little chatterbox"
But Harry has been participating in the Nuffield Early Language
Intervention at school, which can help children make up about three
months' progress.
"It is making a huge difference," Emma said. "He's become a little
chatterbox. He's always asking questions and thinking more and asking
more like, 'How does hair grow?' He's communicating his thoughts more."
'Absolutely key'
The school's head teacher Saly Miner said problems with communication
were "really limiting" for young children, particularly if they were
unable to express themselves, interact with peers and make themselves
understood.
"It's absolutely key," she said. "It's all about a child's self-esteem
and confidence.
"And without that, they're not going to feel happy, they're not going to
be able to grow, they're not going to be able to gain all the benefits
of interacting with their peers as we'd want them to, and interact with
staff.
"All the research shows that if a child does have issues with language
at that age, by adulthood they're four times more likely to struggle
with reading, three time more likely to have mental health issues, twice
as likely to be unemployed and have social-mobility issues, so getting
this right at such an early age is literally the key to children's futures."
EEF chief executive Prof Becky Francis said there was "huge concern
expressed by schools about young children's speech and language
following the impact of the pandemic".
"We can see that in the survey results but also anecdotally right across
our networks."
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The EEF's findings are also reflected in data from the company Speech
Link, which offers standardised assessments to primary schools.
Among 50,000 four- and five-year-olds starting school in September, an
extra 20-25% needed help with language skills compared with the previous
year, the company found. There are also concerns about the impact of the
pandemic on pre-school children.
In some parts of England, up to 63% of health visitors, who check on the
development of babies and toddlers, had been redeployed early in the
pandemic, the Institute of Health Visiting said.
'Most crucial'
Many families had missed out on face-to-face assessments, acting
executive director Alison Morton said.
"We know there are children out there with difficulties who haven't been
identified," she said. "There hasn't been a 'build back better' for
younger children in the way there has been for older children."
Children and Families Minister Vicky Ford said the earliest years were
"the most crucial".
"On top of the £3.5bn we have spent in each of the past three years on
our free childcare entitlements, we have also invested £18m to support
language development in the early years, part of our new £700m package
to provide extra support to children who need it as they return to the
classroom," she said.
"This includes funding to build on the early successes of the Nuffield
Early Language Intervention scheme and roll it out to more schools, so
that thousands more four- and five-year-olds whose language,
communication and literacy skills have been impacted by the disruption
of the past year will benefit from targeted support."