Children are starting school in Knowsley less ready than previous years because of the pandemic.
This situation is not just specific to Knowsley however but reflects a downward trend across the country since the pandemic.
According to a report produced ahead of a meeting of Knowsley Council ’s children and families board, held remotely yesterday (September 28) there has been a “decline both nationally and in Knowsley of the percentage of pupils achieving a good level of development by the end of reception.”
READ MORE: This Morning fans panic as Martin Lewis 'lost for words' over cost of living crisis
Knowsley Council’s principle analyst Adrian Carlton said until recently there hadn’t been a measurement for school readiness for the last few years due to covid.
With data now available Mr Carlton said that compared with pre-pandemic levels “this has come back as a fairly significant dip in school readiness, not just nationally but also in Knowsley.”
He said measures to address this, including family clubs and early intervention strategies, have been “constrained by what’s going on outside Knowsley in terms of wider governance.”
CEO of Merseyside Youth Association Gill Bainbridge said: “I know with work in both Sefton and Liverpool, this cohort of reception has been a lot less school ready than others and the impact of covid on those two years of development, in particular with social interaction with peers but also in relation to speech and language.
She added: “Primary schools are saying there seems to be a higher level of those on the borderline of needing assessments relating to SEND (special educational needs) and that link with covid, when they were two and three and having very little interaction and with people wearing masks and so on.”
Ms Bainbridge asked what plans were in place for supporting schools to improve development and the director of children’s services Julie Moss said she would bring a report to the board on what is being done.
Ms Moss said that while Knowsley has been earmarked additional funding as an ‘education improvement area’ from the government it is not yet clear whether the money could be used to support school readiness.
She said: “We’ve not been advised what those monies will be and whether it will be sufficient to do the catch up work for that age group or whether we would be allowed to use it for that age group.
“We don’t know yet because we haven’t been given the details. We keep pushing but we haven’t been given that yet.”
She added there may be a review of the borough’s speech and language strategy in light of the impact of the pandemic “to make sure it is fit for purpose.”
READ NEXT:
Knowsley Liberal Democrat leader eyes Liverpool seat as he confirms departure
Hundreds of struggling children expected at new mental health service
'Public nuisance' fears over shop's bid to sell alcohol for longer
Anger over gaming centre application council says is 'not welcome'
Glowing report for 'life changing' Kirkby nursery where children 'thrive'
