Teachers report rising numbers of reception children lacking toilet and speech skills

More children are starting reception classes without basic self-care and communication skills, leaving primary schools to provide extra support that teachers say cuts into classroom teaching, according to a survey of more than 1,000 primary school teachers in England.

Teacher Tapp, a polling tool that asked respondents about school readiness a week into term, found that 85% of 1,132 teachers reported at least one reception pupil who needed help going to the toilet. A third said they had at least five pupils needing such support and 8% said they had 10 or more. Nine in 10 respondents reported a decline in speech and language abilities among new starters over the past two years.

At St Mary's Church of England Primary School in Stoke, staff said the school has seen many children arrive needing extra help with speech and toilet training. The school employs a speech and language therapist who works one day a week to provide one-to-one interventions and to train staff to spot and support difficulties early.

"Children are increasingly spending a lot of time looking at a screen and not necessarily engaged in more meaningful interactions or developing the kind of listening skills you need when you hit nursery and reception," said Liz Parkes, the speech and language therapist who visits St Mary's. "We're seeing children in reception who haven't experienced having conversations on a regular basis or aren't having a range of experiences where they're exposed to language."

Catherine Miah, deputy headteacher at St Mary's, said the school budgets for additional specialist support because children who are not ready to learn struggle to benefit from classroom teaching. "We've had to make sacrifices elsewhere, but if children aren't ready to learn you could sit them in front of the best phonics lessons in the world, they're not going to take it onboard if they've not got those learning behaviours," she said.

Parent support has been part of the school's approach. Diane, whose son joined Year 1 at St Mary's this year after receiving help in reception, said the school worked with her to establish routines. "Within two weeks he was out of nappies," she said. "They would help him on the toilet here and I'd do it at home, we'd work together."

Researchers and education leaders say the trend is placing additional demands on teachers. Parenting charity Kindred Squared reported that teachers are spending an average of 2.5 hours a day supporting children who have not reached expected developmental milestones, time that would otherwise be spent on broader classroom teaching. Pepe Di'Iasio of the Association of School and College Leaders said long-term reductions in local early years services have left schools "picking up the pieces".

The Department for Education said the government was working to improve school readiness and had increased access to early years care for hundreds of thousands of families. A spokesperson said ministers were investing £1.5 billion to "rebuild early years services" and aimed to ensure a record share of children are school-ready at age five.

The government has set a target for 75% of children to reach a "good level of development" by the end of reception in 2028. In the last published results, 68% of children achieved that standard, meaning an additional roughly 45,000 children a year would need to reach the expected level to meet the target.

Assessment of a "good level of development" at the end of reception includes basic self-care tasks such as dressing and going to the toilet, as well as communication and listening skills and the ability to pay attention in class. School leaders and charities said early identification and intervention, parental support, and investment in local early years services can help reduce the number of children starting school behind their peers.

Staff at schools such as St Mary's said targeted therapy and close work with families can significantly improve outcomes by Year 2. The experience there, they said, illustrates how schools can mitigate early gaps but also highlights the pressure on classroom time and school budgets when children need help with fundamental skills.

The Department for Education was approached for further comment on the Teacher Tapp findings and the long-term strategy to reach the 2028 target. Additional reporting and survey details were provided to the BBC by Teacher Tapp and by researchers at Kindred Squared.