National charity report reinforces calls from Schools North East to support NE schools with speech and language skills
Figures released by charity Speech and Language UK show nearly one in five primary and secondary children are at risk of being left behind.
Speech and Language
In their survey, ‘Speech and Language UK: Changing Young Lives’, found that the number of teachers who believe that the UK government does not prioritise children’s speaking and understanding of language has increased since last year, from 63% to 70%. 72% of teachers told Speech and Language UK that students transitioning from year 6 to year 7 will struggle more with their speech and language in comparison to year groups who started secondary school before the coronavirus pandemic.
Jane Harris, Speech and Language UK Chief Executive said:
“This research is a wake-up call to new Ministers in the Department for Education. Without urgent action, 1.7 million young futures are at risk. For too long, our education system has failed to recognise that some children struggle to learn to talk and understand words, just as some struggle with reading, writing and maths.”
The Speech and Language UK’s report highlighted DfE data showing that the percentage of pupils formally identified as having a primary special need in speech, language and communication is steadily rising – up to 22.5% in 2021, compared with 18.8% in 2015.
State of the Region
Schools North East is currently accepting responses for our State of the Region Survey. Within the results so far we see a similar pattern to those collected by Speech and Language UK. 76% of North East school leaders said that students were not yet ‘stage ready’.
One response raised concerns of children who had been ‘neglected throughout lockdown’ who now have poor social skills, speech and language skills, and underdeveloped fine and gross motor skills. Another stated ‘reception children do not have the necessary skills to be school ready’, linking these concerns to the funding pressures that they are currently experiencing.
The state of the region survey has identified that funding is a ‘critical concern’ and causing huge uncertainty within the region’s schools, risking an exacerbation of the already enormous problems caused by the pandemic. Almost half of schools expected energy bills to double. Three quarters of schools said that they will be pushed into a deficit in the next three years due to rising energy costs and unfunded staff pay increases. Three quarters of schools said that they would have to rely on their reserves to cover growing shortfalls.
With the new ministerial team in place at DfE, we will be writing to the Secretary of State for Education to highlight the challenges currently facing our schools. Please fill in our State of the Region survey to ensure a wide range of schools in our region are represented.
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