Reception pupils ‘least school ready for generations’ due to pandemic, warns charity

In 2019, the average four-year old spent 25 hours a week at nursery but this has since dropped to just 18 hours a week for those starting school this month.

This is the equivalent of losing a full day of early education a week.

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Nesta’s research details how nursery attendance plummeted during the pandemic. From the start of the autumn 2020 term to the end of the summer 2021 term, the overall average attendance was around three quarters that of previous levels.

The findings show the need for reception pupils to be given additional support to help them adjust to a school life and catch up on the developmental and education support they have missed due to the pandemic, says Louise Bazalgette, Nesta’s lead on school readiness for disadvantaged children.

“No class is ever at exactly the same level, but there are likely to be even greater differences than usual this year due to the pandemic,” she said.

“There will be more struggling children who need extra support to help them to fulfil their potential.”

The government has pledged £1.4bn in additional funding to help pupils recover. But Bazalgette said this equates to £80 per pupil and “will be challenging” for schools “to support the wide range of needs pupils may have”.

This includes “their social and emotional and physical development, to more academic areas like literacy and maths”.

The drop in early hours education amid the pandemic is “across the board” and not linked to level of disadvantage or prevalence of Covid in an area, adds Nesta.

“Nesta’s research echoes what providers have been telling us through thee pandemic, that their attendance levels are still well below their usual levels in most settings,” said Jonathan Broadberry, the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) director of policy and communication.

Meanwhile, Early Years Alliance chief executive Neil Leitch is concerned that “just five per cent of the government’s education recovery programme has been allocated to the early years so far”.

“Many young children have missed vital hours at nurseries, pre-schools and childminding settings over the last 18 months, on top of interactions with family, friends and peers,” he added.

Schools have also been handed an additional £145 for each disadvantaged student, including those in care and eligible for free school meals, through a so-called “recovery premium”.

NDNA chief executive Purnima Tanuku is concerned that early years settings look set to miss out on this funding as it is focused on school-age children.

“The government is running the risk of creating a lost generation as the attainment gap widens and those children who are most in need miss out at the most influential time in their lives,” she said.