education

Fewer UK children 'school ready' after Covid nursery closures

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The number of children starting school without basic skills such as being able to go to the toilet unaided, put on a coat or respond to questions is at record levels because of nursery closures, according to research.

Experts say further closures could widen gaps in school readiness between children from rich and poor backgrounds.

Research commissioned by Kindred2, a charitable foundation working to improve early education and child development, found that a record proportion of children were starting school without basic skills.

Nearly half (46%) of children who started reception class in 2020 were not “school ready”, compared with 35% in 2019, a survey of more than 500 British primary schools found. Less time spent at nursery due to lockdown restrictions was the key reason for this decline, teachers said.

Unlike primary schools, nurseries and childminders in England are now open to all children. There is mounting pressure on the government to introduce further restrictions to contain the pandemic, and a recent Observer poll found 61% of people were in favour of shutting nurseries. The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has also flagged nurseries as an area where restrictions could be tightened.

Helen Dodd, a professor of child psychology at the University of Reading, said: “We need to accept that this year’s intake of children and next year’s – particularly if nurseries close – may be a bit behind where they would be otherwise. We need to give children the chance to, in their own time, get to where they need to be. And we also need to allow schools the space to give the children space.”

Research interviews with 208 registered early years providers conducted by Ofsted highlighted lapses in children’s personal, social and emotional development as a result of the first national lockdown.

“Many children were more anxious and had struggled when they first returned to the setting, finding it difficult to separate from their parents,” inspectors said. “Some children were less confident with others and slower to join in. Others returned using nappies, comforters and dummies at an older age than providers would usually expect.”

However, not all children suffered equally, and those whose parents were available to spend quality time with them often thrived, Ofsted found.

Dr Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez, of Oxford Brookes University, who is leading a study of more than 500 families with nursery-aged children to better understand how lockdowns and social distancing affect their development, said: “A key purpose of nurseries is that they provide high-quality education and enriching activities which improve children’s cognitive and social-emotional outcomes.”

Preliminary results of her research suggest that children whose parents were available to do enriching activities such as reading, arts and crafts or gardening with them during lockdown showed a growth in their vocabularies and cognitive skills associated with mental flexibility and self-control, which was less evident in those who spent less time doing such activities. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds were more likely to fall into the latter category and also more had higher daily screen use.

One reason may that they had less access to resources such as age-appropriate books and private gardens. “This pandemic is widening the deep inequalities that already exist in children’s early experiences and life chances,” Gonzalez-Gomez said. If nurseries were to close now, such children could face an additional disadvantage, because getting outdoors to play games or investigate nature requires access to warm, weatherproof clothing, which may be unaffordable for some.

Dodd has conducted extensive interviews with the parents of two- to four-year-olds to understand the impact of the pandemic on families’ mental health. “We found that children’s emotional problems stayed the same, and behaviour problems actually reduced very slightly, which is probably due to fewer tantrums about putting shoes on and getting out of the house in time in the mornings,” she said.

However, 73% of parents reported feeling they were unable to fully meet the needs of both their work and their child, and 53% were very worried that they were not doing enough for their child.

If nurseries do close, being conscious of what young children are most missing out on will be important, Dodd added. The biggest factor is social contact. Nurseries allow children to learn about friendships, sharing and collaborative play. So if they close then continuing to allow families to form a childcare bubble with another family will be important, said Dodd. Childcare bubbles also take some of the pressure off working parents, giving them some space to get work done and reducing stress.

Although children may need time to catch up on missed play opportunities and develop the skills needed to succeed at school, Dodd is confident that most will do so eventually. “Children should be with other children. But also, children are resilient, so they probably will be OK.”

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