£20m to train early-years staff in child language skills
A quarter of four-and-five-year-olds (28 per cent) lacked the early communication and literacy skills expected by the end of reception year, according to DfE research.
To combat this, Education Secretary Damian Hinds has set out an ambition to halve this number through a range of measures.
Measures include £20 million will be spent on training and professional development for early years staff in disadvantaged areas to increase their ability to support children’s early speech and language development. This work will drive up standards in the pre-school years, so more children arrive at school with the foundations in place to make the most of primary school.
A new coalition of organisations has also been launched to look at ways of supporting parents with helping children learn new words and develop their communication
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