Children Starting School ‘Still in Nappies and Buggies,’ Report Finds

Nursery children at Willowpark Primary Academy in Oldham, north-west England on June 18, 2020. Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images

Children are arriving at primary school still wearing nappies, using buggies and unable to communicate properly with their classmates, the former children’s commissioner for England has said.

Anne Longfield warned that many young children are not receiving the support needed to boost their “school readiness” in the report from her Centre for Young Lives think tank in conjunction with campaign group, Child of the North.

The report places a degree of blame at the door of the “COVID-19 pandemic” for exacerbating many early years developmental problems.

Research has consistently shown that lockdowns and other measures, such as social distancing and masking, had a hugely detrimental impact on babies and children, with one recent report showing a 13 percent difference in the number of children considered “school ready” before and after the period of school closures and restrictions.

‘Not Considered School Ready’

Longfield’s report suggests that around a third of children were not considered “school ready” in 2022-2023, meaning that they were not properly toilet trained or able to talk and express themselves as expected for their age.

Her research examined Early Years Foundation Stage data on five-year-olds’ development in England, with the report warning of a “crisis” in preschool provision and calling on the government to offer more support to struggling families through the introduction of “positive parenting programmes” and home visits from professionals.

The report recommends improved training for professionals, and an increase in home visits to first time, low-income mothers, together with more “information sharing” between the various agencies working with families and young children.

Longfield, who is now executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives, wrote: “I have heard many concerning experiences from school staff about children arriving at Reception wearing nappies, still using buggies, and unable to communicate at the expected level or to socialise with other children.

“Some of these children have developmental problems, struggle with speech and behaviour, and can require significant extra attention and support from already overstretched schools.”

The report warned that a “widened” language gap between children from more and less advantaged communities since the COVID-19 era could lead to an even greater attainment gap over time between those born into more and less affluent families.

Schools and nurseries have “high levels of concern” around speech and language, with significant numbers of children below age-related expectations at the end of Reception year, it said.

The research suggested that 72 percent of pupils who were not eligible for free school meals were “school ready” in 2022-2023, compared to just 52 percent of those children who were eligible for them.

It also found wide regional variation, with just 59 percent of children in Manchester considered “school ready” compared to 84 percent in London.

Children deemed not school ready are more likely to be persistently absent from class than their peers, and more likely to end up classified as NEET (“Not in Education, Employment or Training”) by the age of 16-17, according to a recent analysis. Over half of children who were not school ready went on to perform below the expected level in their Key Stage 1 reading assessment.

More Free Childcare

At last week’s Labour Party Conference, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said that early years provision was her “first priority” as she announced that extra childcare places in school-based nurseries will be available from next year to help deliver the expansion of government-funded childcare.

Working parents of children and babies older than nine months in England are now able to access 15 hours of state-funded childcare, before the full roll-out of 30 hours a week to all eligible families in September 2025.

The think tank’s report does  not explore the differences in “school readiness” of children who are placed in pre-school nurseries or other childcare and those who are cared for at home within their own family.

Longfield praised Labour’s childcare rollout, saying: “The Government’s commitment to 300 new state nurseries is an opportunity for schools and communities in disadvantaged areas to tackle these problems head on by establishing new early years support to boost children’s development and tackle poverty by providing childcare support to help parents work.

“None of these problems will fix themselves. Our preschool system is disjointed, is struggling with a recruitment and retention crisis, and has been historically underfunded.”

Judy Clegg, professor of speech and language therapy at the University of Sheffield who contributed to the report, said in a statement: “Many children are starting school without the speech, language, and communication skills they need to begin learning.

“Urgent action is required to provide support, so every child can listen, talk, and engage with others—skills essential for thriving in the classroom, learning to read, making friends, and succeeding in school.

“Increased funding for health and early years education to collaborate effectively is crucial and expanding speech and language therapy services is vital to ensuring no child is left behind.”

Sure Start Dismantling

The report points to multiple factors besides the response to COVID, and is particularly critical of the dismantling of the Sure Start programme during the previous, Conservative administration, adding that  the country has “gone backwards” in terms of supporting disadvantaged children because of austerity measures.

“The dismantling of Sure Start was an enormous mistake, and Family Hubs have not been given the resources to replace them. The result is that too many children are now entering school with a raft of problems which nobody has spotted early. This is placing extra burdens on families, schools, and public services—including the NHS. We need better sharing of information to connect public services, so we can speed up interventions that work and eventually  improve the life chances of thousands of children,” it states.

A government source told the Press Association: “This Labour government is focused on fixing the foundations and rebuilding Britain, beginning the work of rolling out school-based nurseries, implementing early speech and language interventions, and driving forward the child poverty taskforce.”