One-in-three new starters ‘are not ready for school’

MORE than onein-three children in Rochdale are starting school unable to complete a sentence or follow basic instructions.

They may struggle to count, use different tenses, talk about new things – or, sadly, even express their own feelings.

A new report shows the borough’s five-year-olds are among the worst in the country when it comes to ‘readiness’ for reception class.

The shocking figures reveal more than a third (36 per cent) of our fiveyear-olds are starting school at a disadvantage.

In the report compiled by education watchdog Ofsted, that compares to a national figure of 29pc.

It means that in an average Rochdale class of 30 five-year-olds, there will be 11 children who are ‘not ready’.

The report has prompted both Ofsted and charity Save the Children to call on the government to improve standards at both nursery and reception level.

Evidence shows those starting school when they’re ‘not ready’ are unprepared to learn essential reading writing skills.

Rochdale is among the most concerning areas when it comes to fiveyear-olds’ development.

The borough is the fifth worst nationally.

The report says less well-off children more likely to be ‘left behind’.

It’s prompted education watchdog Ofsted to warn that newly qualified teachers are ‘not prepared’ to teach reading, writing or numbers in reception classes.

They have called for the government to overhaul training and free up teachers to teach the basics.

Headteachers need to put reading at the heart of the curriculum to improve speaking skills, they said.

And a focus on phonics, writing and numbers is also key, along with more stories, poems and rhymes.

Teachers’ workloads need to be eased to allow for this, they warned.

Failure is ‘not inevitable’, they emphasise – arguing the best schools will ensure all children of all backgrounds make great strides in their learning.

However, Steve McIntosh, director of UK Poverty at Save The Children, says work needs to start even earlier – in Greater Manchester’s nurseries. and ●●A shock new report has revealed the borough’s five-year-olds are among the worse in the country when it comes to ‘readiness’ for reception class

This is key to offsetting issues that can often arise for children from poorer backgrounds, he argues.

Calling on the government to act now, he added: “These children are starting reception struggling to speak full sentences or follow basic instructions, and without being ready to learn essential reading and writing skills.

“We know that children who start behind are likely to stay behind. A lack of development in the early years undermines their chances of success throughout school and in life.”

He added: “If we don’t act now, hundreds of thousands more children will be left behind.”

Andrea Sweeney, a parliamentary advocacy officer for the charity, said children in the south-east generally do better than those in the north.

She said children whose brains aren’t ‘fired up’ during critical stages in development were falling behind – and teachers’ roles were crucial in ‘levelling the playing field’ at nursery level.

Save the Children say falling levels of people taking up teacher training courses is also a major issue.

Just 595 people enrolled in early years teacher training courses in 2016 – down 4pc from the previous year.

If take-up of early years training continues to fall, it will take 17 years before there are enough qualified teachers to cope with demand, they said.