40% of England's poorest boys in language deficit
A new study finds that four out of 10 poorest boys in England start school without the language skills they need.
These students lag 1 year and 3 months behind their peers by the age of five.
The researchers who compiled the study, “Read On. Get On.” are now warning that this is a gap which these children might never catch up on.
The results are from a major study looking at 19,000 children. Poor boys fared particularly badly. While the girls’ results were not as stark, still over one in four, 27%, were below the basic language level by five years old.
An average five-year-old should be able to understand and talk with new people, ask a lot of “why questions” as well as explain what has happened in an interesting way.
Dame Julia Cleverdon, chairwoman of Read On, Get On, said, "Poor children, and poor boys in particular, are being set up to fail because too many haven't developed the building blocks of learning before they arrive at the school gate for the first time.”
Campaigners say the issue is just one part of an overall picture for poor families in Britain today, one that is impacting children particularly.
Other reports have seen teachers warn that poor children are turning up hungry at schools and cannot concentrate, while others say parents are skipping meals to feed their children. For the poorest in Britain, conditions are deteriorating, while the reality of the problem is being swept under the carpet.
NM/GHN
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