One in four lack basic language abilities at first school

MORE THAN a quarter of children starting primary school lack basic literacy skills, new research shows.

Communication skills such as being able to talk about events in the past or future were missing in 28 per cent of four-and-five-yearolds.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds has now pledged to halve the number of children starting school without the early speaking and reading skills they need by 2028.

In his first major speech on social mobility, Mr Hinds is expected to say: “It is a persistent scandal that we have children starting school not able to communicate in full sentences, not able to read simple words.

“This matters, because when you’re behind from the start you rarely catch up. Your peers don’t wait, the gap just widens.

“This has a huge impact on social mobility.”

Children with poor vocabulary at age five are more than twice as likely to be unemployed at age 34 as children with good vocabulary. Mr Hinds will say the homelearning environment is “the last taboo” as he announces an education summit this autumn to encourage more parents to read and learn new words with their children.

Helping parents and giving them the confidence to work with their children on speech and language has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to build the foundations for a successful education.

The education summit will include businesses and broadcasters and aims to explore innovative ways to boost early language development and reading in the home.

“I particularly want us to be harnessing the power of technology,” Mr Hinds will say.

“Whilst there are legitimate worries about screen time, media and modern technology can also help to raise awareness and build parents’ confidence around what they can do to help their child’s early language development.”