Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, responds to a report from Kindred Squared, suggesting a growing number of pupils are not school ready when they start in reception.
“These findings reflect the fact that there is obviously a huge problem with children not being ready for school when they start in reception. The reasons are complex – many families are struggling to cope with the pressures of life, and are themselves often suffering from poor mental health and wellbeing. It’s tough out there at the moment, and we see the consequences of this in our schools all the time.
“To be fair to the current government, it is doing the right things through its programme to roll-out family hubs in local communities, expand childcare, and plans to publish guidance on screen time for under-fives. But these aren’t quick fixes, and in truth, over the past 15 years local support services for families have fallen away because of public spending cuts, and we’re dealing with the fallout of those decisions.
“Schools put a huge amount of work into providing support for children who are not school ready but it does mean that these youngsters are already behind their peers right at the outset of their education. Their job is made all the more difficult by the fact that schools are themselves so poorly funded.
“We have to get to grips with these issues as a society in order to improve educational and social equity.”