More school-starters missing key skills like toilet training, teachers say

At St Mary's Church of England Primary School in Stoke, speech and language therapist Liz Parkes is helping reception pupil Gracie sound out words that rhyme.

Liz comes to the school once a week to do one-to-one interventions like this, and to offer training and support to teachers on how to spot issues.

Around a quarter of pupils at St Mary's need some extra support with speech and language when they join reception, but with Liz's help that number is down to just a handful of pupils by Year 2.

Liz says social isolation is partly the reason for the decrease in communication skills.

"Children are increasingly spending a lot of time looking at a screen and not necessarily engaged in more meaningful interactions or developing the kind of listening skills you need when you hit nursery and reception.

"We're seeing children in reception who haven't experienced having conversations on a regular basis or aren't having a range of experiences where they're exposed to language."

Catherine Miah, deputy head at St Mary's Church of England Primary School in Stoke, encouraged schools to budget for a speech and language therapist, who could have an "incredible" impact on children.

"We've had to make sacrifices elsewhere, but if children aren't ready to learn you could sit them in front of the best phonics lessons in the world, they're not going to take it onboard if they've not got those learning behaviours."

The school says a third of its pupils need help with toilet training when they join nursery, but the school works with parents to ensure they are toilet-trained by the time they reach reception.

"We're a team. It's not a case of saying to parents 'This is your job. Why haven't you done it?' We need to work together."

The government has set a target that 75% of children leaving reception at five years old will have a "good level of development" by 2028. Last year 68% of children were at that level, so an extra 45,000 children a year are needed to reach that goal.

To achieve a "good" level of development, a child is assessed by teachers at the end of their reception year on tasks including dressing, going to the toilet, and paying attention in class.

Pepe Di'Iasio, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said reception teachers were "brilliant" at supporting young children but local services have been badly eroded over the past decade.

"It has left schools picking up the pieces," he said. "Many children are starting school already several months behind their peers."

Parenting charity Kindred Squared found that teachers are spending 2.5 hours a day helping children who haven't hit developmental milestones instead of teaching.

They have written a set of guidelines for parents to check whether their child has the skills they need to begin school.

Diane's son has just started Year 1 at St Mary's in Stoke this year. She says without the school's support he would have been much further behind in his development.

"Within two weeks he was out of nappies," said Diane. "They would help him on the toilet here and I'd do it at home, we'd work together."

Teachers say her boy is thriving, but Diane says the school has been instrumental in supporting his special educational needs and improving his speech and language.

"He does a lot for himself, whereas before he was always dependent on me. School have helped me to help him become more independent and more confident," she said.

Additional reporting by Emily Doughty