KIDS WITH NO NAME
Pupils don’t know who they are
Picture posed by models
CHILDREN are starting school without knowing their own names.
Shock findings revealed youngsters aged four and five lack basic skills when they head into the classroom.
A survey of primary school teachers found 70% of the staff have pupils in care who cannot use the toilet properly.
And 85% said kids struggle with doing up coats with buttons and more than three quarters could not use a knife and fork. The revelations emerged from research in 44 primary schools by HomeStart Birmingham, a network of six charities working with parents and their children in challenging circumstances.
Alison Foden, who runs HomeStart Stockland Green and Erdington, said: “Quite often we see children who know their first name but not their last name – but some don’t know their first name either.
“It could be that they are used to being called a nickname at home, but often they just don’t have the verbal communication.”
Gary Jeffries, who manages a nursery in Bartley Green, Birmingham, said it was not just children from poorer backgrounds who are behind.
He said: “We actually see all sorts of families struggle with this. It isn’t just specifically disadvantaged parents and families who have children who are not ready for school. But I do think poverty makes it harder.”