Coronavirus: ‘Concerning’ impact on language development and PSED among four-to five-year-olds

Of the 58 primary schools surveyed across England as part of an ongoing Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) funded study, 76 per cent said that children starting school last September needed more support with communication than in previous years.

Teachers pinpointed the three areas of development that children were struggling with:

• 96 per cent of schools said they were concerned about pupils' speech and language development
• 91 per of schools cent said they were concerned about pupils' personal, social and emotional development
• 89 per cent of schools said they were concerned about pupils' literacy skills

The news comes as the EEF announced that two-fifths of primary schools in England have signed up to take part in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI)  programme to support four- and five-year-olds, whose early language and literacy development has been most affected by the pandemic.

This means that 62,000 reception-age pupils in 6,672 schools will benefit from the intervention, which has been proven to increase the language skills of four to five year-olds by an additional three months.

In March, we reported that disadvantaged pre-school children in private, voluntary, independent and maintained settings will also be able to benefit from the £10m catch-up scheme to boost their language skills as part of the Government’s £18m language support scheme. The Department for Education said more details would be confirmed in due course.

Responding to the report yesterday (27 April), children and families minister Vicky Ford said, ‘The earliest years are the most crucial point of a child’s development, and under this Government the proportion of children achieving a ‘good level of development’ at age five has increased - from 52 per cent in 2013 to 72 per cent by 2019.

‘On top of the £3.5 billion we have spent in each of the past three years on our free childcare entitlements, we have also invested £18 million to support language development in the early years, part of our new £700 million package to provide extra support to children who need it as they return to the classroom. This includes funding to build on the early successes of the Nuffield Early Language Intervention scheme and roll it out to more schools, so that thousands more four and five-year-olds whose language, communication and literacy skills have been impacted by the disruption of the past year will benefit from targeted support.’

Commenting on the research, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said, ‘The findings of this report are concerning but unsurprising. A reduction in social interaction with both peers and other adults during lockdown will inevitably have had an impact on some children’s speech and language development.

‘Schools know only too well the importance of supporting young children with their speech and language development, and they are expert in creating language-rich environments. However, the scale of the challenge must not be underestimated and the Government must commit to fully supporting this work and to a multi-year funding boost for schools to enable them to help all pupils recover from the effects of lockdown. Equally, the Government must properly invest in nurseries and pre-school provision so that all children get the support they need as early as possible.

‘Schools also need access to specialist services such as speech and language therapists to provide timely support to those children with the most significant needs. Ongoing cuts to those services has meant that too many young children are left without the vital specialist support they need.’

Kate Green MP, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said that the Conservatives have treated children as an ‘afterthought’ throughout the pandemic and the news that children’s language and social skills have fallen so far behind ought to be a ‘wake up call’.

She added, ‘Government ‘catch-up’ plans fall far short of what is needed for children to recover lost learning, including nothing on wellbeing or social development. In addition, their stealth cut to the pupil premium hinders schools’ ability to put their own plans in place.

‘Labour want children to be at the heart of our national recovery. Our plans for breakfast clubs would give all children extra time to socialise with friends, and targeted additional learning at the start of the day.’

Registration for trial

Josh Hillman, director of education at the Nuffield Foundation, said he is encouraging all schools who have not yet done so to apply to receive NELI, which will help them to address the communication and language development needs of children starting school later this year.

He added, ‘Specialist training for teaching assistants to deliver NELI is free and can be accessed online, enabling schools to provide targeted intervention for children who are most in need of additional support in their oral language development

Professor Becky Francis, CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation, said, ‘Whilst reported concerns around school starters’ language and communication development are of course worrying, it is reassuring to know that the NELI programme is available to meet pupils’ needs.

‘In these challenging times, the success of the intervention constitutes an encouraging reminder that supporting pupils to overcome the detrimental impacts of the pandemic is not only possible, but very much underway.’

If schools would like to be informed when registration is open, they should complete the form here.

The next steps in the EEF-funded research, undertaken by the University of York, The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) and the Education Policy Institute, are to capture parents and teachers’ experiences during the lockdown that began in January 2021.

In Summer 2021, researchers intend to collect data relating to pupil’s literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional well-being using the Early Years Toolbox (Howard & Melhuish, 2017).