Drive to help deprived youngsters be ‘school ready’

HELPING youngsters in Wigan’s most deprived communities start school ‘ready to learn’ will be a council priority this year, according to a report.

Town hall bosses hope to ‘narrow the gap’, with the rate of children eligible for free school meals hitting development targets considerably lower than that of their classmates.

Figures tabled to a council committee show the overall rate of children assessed as having a good level of development (GLD) at the end of their reception year has increased from 38 per cent in 2013 – when the assessments were introduced – to 69pc in 2018.

However, less than half (49pc) of children who are eligible for free school meals reach this standard, the report adds, which is below the national (53pc) and regional (56pc) average.

A disparity between different areas across the borough has also been highlighted, with overall figures ranging between 66pc and 74pc, and 44pc and 60pc for the free school meals cohort.

The council launched a Leading Early Years Excellence Partnership (LEYEP) earlier this year, which officers say will develop a ‘self-improving system’ through co-operation between schools and childcare services.

And the introduction of the 30 hours childcare pilot in the borough ‘will play a key role in driving forward improvements in school readiness’, the report adds.

School-readiness levels are assessed by teachers during the reception year at school, taking into account a child’s personal, social and emotional development in addition to communication and language skills.

The council launched Start Well reforms in 2016, setting up five children and family hubs across the borough, to ‘ensure more families get the support they need’.