Staggering number of children entering school ill-prepared for the educational journey ahead

One in four pupils commence their schooling journey without being toilet trained, ITV News' Stacey Foster reports

Words by Social Affairs Correspondent, Stacey Foster, and Producer Rachael Allison

As the academic year unfolds, teachers are finding themselves grappling with a significant challenge: a staggering number of children entering school are ill-prepared for the educational journey ahead.

School readiness refers to children being developmentally ready to access the learning and development opportunities available to them in the Reception year, where this is not due to a previously identified Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND).

Recent data from early education charity Kindred2's annual school readiness survey, which polled over 1,000 teachers and more than 1,000 parents, sheds light on a considerable portion of pupils that are starting school without fundamental skills.

This poses an obstacle not only for teachers but also disrupts the learning time of others.

According to the survey findings, more than three-quarters of teachers report spending an increasing amount of time supporting children who are not school-ready, diverting an average of 2.5 hours daily from regular classroom activities.

One in four pupils commence their schooling journey without being toilet trained, while over a third lack the ability to dress themselves independently.

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Deputy Headteacher at Shackleton Primary School Emma Stills has witnessed these challenges first hand, and has noticed a massive changed in her 14 years of teaching.

“The difference in need coming through in schools nationally is changing ... I don’t think we can put it down to one thing. Unless more research is done, I don’t think we are ever going to know what the causes are and whether this is going to continue or not," she told ITV News.

Additionally, the report found that the burden of addressing school readiness falls heavily on the teachers, with 93% of teachers indicating that their schools are either increasing resources or reallocating existing ones to manage this issue.

Kindred2 Director Felicity Gillespie said school readiness isn't an issue just for teachers or parents, but for everybody "because it affects us all".

"We need to reprioritise our energy our focus, our attention, on the early years to recognise that we are all learners from birth. Key Stage 1 doesn’t start a five, it starts when you’re born.”

While teachers play a crucial role in fostering academic and social development, the task of ensuring a child is “school-ready” incorporates a collective effort and some parents believe that more support needs to be offered.

The report found half of parents think more affordable childcare could help.

Father, Joshua Omajene, agreed it would be beneficial.

“I think that will help because that problem will not be transferred to Reception, then would have been dealt with at nursery. Otherwise [what] can you do? Parents needs to fend for their family and they have to go out to work.”

But 50% of parents also said it wasn’t solely their responsibility to toilet train their children.

Parent Victoria Reynolds said: “To be a parent there is no textbook, you have to learn it yourself but I personally believe kids should know these things by the time they reach Reception but then some kids do struggle."

From September, the government is offering working parents of any child over nine months 15 hours of free childcare.

In response to this report, the Department for Education has said it recognises that children's early years are "crucial" which is why it is "providing a package of training, qualifications and expert guidance for early years workers, which includes support for them to improve children’s speech, language and communication skills."

“Parents can also access support to help with their child’s development via the government’s Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. This is part of our £300m investment to transform services for parents, carers, babies and children in 75 local authority areas across England."

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