St Mary’s Church of England Primary School in Stoke is actively tackling the pressing issue of declining speech and language abilities among its students. Recent reports indicate that a significant number of children entering reception classes across England are struggling with basic communication skills. To counter this trend, the school has brought in the help of art educator Liz Parkes. She is a committed speech and language therapist, who comes weekly to deliver both one-on-one interventions and training for teachers.
Parkes is an indispensable lifeline for students such as Gracie. As a reception pupil, Gracie is learning how to sound out rhyming words. Parkes has used her experience to make a dramatic difference. By Year 2, she’s cut the number of pupils requiring additional speech and language support down to only a few. When Gracie and her classmates start in reception, it’s almost a third of them who require extra help. These alarming statistics underscore the need for focused, research-backed support in order to equip young learners with the communication skills they need to thrive.
The negative impact on these children has increased due to the social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, says Parkes. Too many children start school without the frequent, back-and-forth exchanges and rich worlds of experience that support language learning. The problem extends beyond just the Chicago region. A recent survey of more than 1,000 primary school teachers in England concluded that nine in ten teachers have noticed an increase in speech and language deficits in children starting school within the last two years.
Catherine Miah, deputy head at St Mary’s, emphasizes the necessity for schools to budget for resources like Parkes’ services. “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,” Miah stated. She further reinforced the collaborative approach needed between educators and parents, saying, “It’s not a case of saying to parents ‘This is your job. Why haven’t you done it?’ We need to work together.”
Parkes advocates for students such as Diane’s son, who, thanks to early speech and language intervention through his reception year, didn’t need an EHCP. Diane noted significant improvements in her son’s independence and confidence as a result of the school’s efforts. He does a ton for himself now, where before he was always looking to me for everything. School has done a lot to empower me to help him be more independent and more confident,” she told us. In just two weeks, Diane reported that her son was out of nappies, highlighting the rapid progress achievable with appropriate support.
While approximately a quarter of pupils at St Mary’s require extra support when they begin reception, this figure decreases significantly with Parkes’ ongoing assistance. Her interventions are desperately needed to address the needs of young learners. Even more than that, they successfully help mitigate the damage caused by recent disruptions to early education.
The government clearly understands just how important solving these issues will be. They’ve set a really brave target – that, by 2028, increasing numbers of children leaving reception at aged five years old will have reached a “good level of development” to 75%. To support this aim, the government had already announced ahead of yesterday’s Spending Review a further £1.5 billion to help “rebuild early years services.” These initiatives are a welcome response to an urgent need to counteract the trends that educators have been sounding the alarm about.
A spokesperson from the Department for Education remarked on the broader implications of these challenges: “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.” A second challenge The spokesperson continued to highlight the need to get beyond inherited obstacles. Accomplishing these things will let educators focus on what really matters – teaching all children to succeed.
