Children living in deprived areas already have their fair share of challenges before they start school. And once they are through the gates, the extent of the challenges they face become all too clear.
Literacy, communication and language skills are among the key issues for these children. According to ICAN, a children’s communication charity, the largest cognitive skills gap they face is in vocabulary – children from low-income families are almost a year behind their peers by the time they start school (ICAN, 2019).
This worrying gap was the main reason we created this project. The objective was simple: give Early Years Foundation Stage practitioners in 56 schools in disadvantaged areas across seven local authorities the skills, strategies and teaching and learning techniques they needed to help them improve children’s literacy, communication and language. Nearly 2,000 children – mostly in Reception classes, as well as some in nursery provision – were involved in the project.
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