Reception pupils are underachieving and at high health risk
The number of North East pupils achieving good development at the end of Reception Year is the lowest in the country, reveals a new report conducted by the National Children’s Bureau (NCB).
It also claims one in 10 children starting school in our region would be classed as obese.
Stockton-on-Tees and Middlesbrough are mentioned in the report’s list of top 10 lowest performing Local Authority areas in the country, with only 50.1% and 50.2% (respectively) of young children achieving good development and being school-ready at the end of Reception. The average for the region is just over 56%.
Source: The National Children’s Bureau report “Poor Beginnings – health inequalities among young children across England”
According to the NCB’s research, the North East also has the highest rate of hospital admissions for children under the age of five due to injury, with South Tyneside, Darlington and Middlesbrough listed in the top 10 Local Authority Areas with highest rates of admissions per 10,000 pupils.
However, Hartlepool and South Tyneside are two of the five Local Authority areas noted for having low rates of tooth decay, despite their high levels of poverty.
A spokesperson for Public Health England in the North East told The Northern Echo: “One of Public Health England’s priorities is to ensure every child has the best start in life, so they are ready to learn at two and ready for school at five.
“We are focussing on high immunisation rates, health visitor interventions at five vital stages in early years, and maternal mental health and early attachment, as they are strong foundations for health and wellbeing in children.”
Whilst these are worrying findings for the North East, the situation is of concern across the country. The big discrepancies in health and safety prospects at an early age, depending on location, led the charity to warn of a “shocking postcode lottery”.
Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive of the National Children’s Bureau, said: “We need local and national government to make the same efforts to narrow the gap in health outcomes across the country for under-fives as has been made to narrow the gap in achievement between poor and rich pupils in school.”
Further reading:
Poor Beginnings Report
Children’s health ‘shocking’ postcode lottery, charity says (BBC)
Huge gaps in obesity levels, tooth decay, injury and educational development in region’s children (The Northern Echo)
North-South divide exposed in children’s health after new report published (ChronicleLive)
Children’s health subject to ‘shocking’ postcode lottery, says charity (The Guardian)