Latest news with #StartforLife
The Herald Scotland
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Four in five teachers say Government will miss its ‘school ready' target
A poll of more than 2,500 primary school teachers in England found 80% do not think the Government is likely to meet its goal of 75% of children being 'school ready' by 2028. The survey, carried out by Teacher Tapp in May, suggests 60% of primary teachers in state schools think the Government should increase access to childcare for low-income families to help meet its target. In December, Prime Minister Keir Starmer set a target for 75% of five-year-olds in England to be ready to learn when they start school by 2028. The Government will measure the progress by the percentage of five-year-olds reaching a good level of development in the early years foundation stage assessment – which looks at language, personal, social and emotional development, as well as maths and literacy. The survey for Save the Children, shared with the PA news agency, suggests 81% of primary school teachers believe a lack of affordable childcare has negatively impacted children being ready for school. The expansion of funded childcare – which was introduced by the Conservative government – began being rolled out in England in April last year for working parents of two-year-olds. Working parents of children older than nine months are now able to access 15 hours of funded childcare a week, before the full rollout of 30 hours a week to all eligible families in September. But charities have called on the Government to do more to ensure children from disadvantaged backgrounds can access high-quality childcare. When asked what the Government should prioritise to help meet its school readiness target, 85% said access to family support services should be increased and 29% said child-related benefit payments should rise. Ruth Talbot, policy and advocacy adviser for UK child poverty at Save the Children, said: 'When 80% of teachers are worried that the UK Government won't meet their target on school readiness, we know more needs to be done by ministers to fix this problem. 'Quality childcare that helps children prepare for Reception has been unaffordable and poverty has been allowed to fester for too long. 'Schools are witnessing the dual impact of these issues and it's time for the UK Government to act. 'The upcoming child poverty strategy due in June must address the causes of poverty and its impact, starting by ending the two-child benefit limit and providing good quality childcare for all. 'Without meaningful action, this Government will continue to preside over a rise in poverty while children's outcomes decline.' A Government spokesperson said: 'We have made no bones about the scale of the challenge to deliver on our Plan for Change so tens of thousands more children, a record proportion, are school-ready at age five. Our plan is ambitious, and rightly so. 'Already, we have started urgent work to extend early language support, deliver thousands of new places in school-based nurseries, and provide parenting support through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programmes. 'In addition, tens of thousands more working parents across England will soon be able to apply for 30 hours of funded childcare to start from September, boosting access to more affordable and high-quality early years education and childcare. 'This goes hand in hand with the work of our cross-government Child Poverty Taskforce, with its wide-ranging strategy to tackle child poverty across the country to be set out in the summer.'
BBC News
30-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Cornwall Council releases video to support new parents
A new video has been created to show new parents the types of support available to them in Council has released the three-minute video to give an overview of the 'Start for Life' programme, which provides advice and support from pregnancy until a child is for Life also offers local support through a network of Family Hubs which can be found across animation can be found on Cornwall Council's Start for Life web page. 'Tricky to navigate' Jodie Pethick, senior manager for Start for Life at the council, said: "Having a baby is a life-changing experience and every family wants to give their child the best start in life. "But we know that sometimes that journey as a parent can be tricky to navigate, for lots of different reasons."She added: "That's where our Start for Life programme comes in. "If you're a new parent or are expecting the arrival of a little one I would strongly recommend checking out our Start for Life webpages and new video to find out what help and support is available to you."
BBC News
17-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Mum praises family hub in Peterborough for 'incredible' support
A mother said the support she received from a city's free family hub has made an "incredible" difference to her and her family hubs in Peterborough provide support for families with children from birth to age 19, offering parenting and family support, access to financial advice and learning through play City Council has received a total of £1.3m from central government to continue running the hubs until April from Peterborough, who has been visiting the hub in Welland for more than a year, said: " [Without the hub] I wouldn't be able to pay for the groups we come to. By coming here my daughter is growing every day." She added: "It's about being able to go somewhere and talk to someone, to get out of the house. "I did have anxiety and it has helped me to be better. To be brave."Staff at the family hubs in Peterborough delivered about 25,000 face-to-face sessions last year, an increase of 17.5 per cent on the previous year. Mark Bowering, from Peterborough, has five children of different ages and attends the parenting classes at one the city's family hubs. He said it was important that the service remains free."Nowadays if people say something is going to cost you £10 or £20 people might say, 'I've got to buy food' or whatever, and it probably wouldn't happen. "Without these courses, I don't think [my] children would grow so well." Tina and Chris have been bringing their grandson Hector to the hub for about two said: "It's really helped his social skills, interacting with other children, learning how to share."Some parents here aren't well off and can't afford to take them to other places. "This place is a real plus for all the parents in the area, really beneficial." Katy Cole, the cabinet member for children's services at Peterborough City Council, said: "I'm absolutely delighted that we've received funding to continue running the successful family hubs scheme, which is playing a key role in improving outcomes for children across Peterborough." A spokesperson from the Department for Education said: "We're strengthening family services through continued investment in the family hubs and Start for Life programmes, which provide important support for families and babies."The first phase of the spending review delivers on the government's ambition to give all children the best start in life by increasing spending in England on early years and family services to over £8bn in 2025-26." Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Pre-school children's screen time at 'crisis point'
Pre-school children's speech and language development is in "steady decline" due to an over-reliance on screen time, an expert has said. More than 25% of three- and four-year-olds own their own smartphone and half of children under 13 are on social media, according to a recent Ofcom report. One early years centre in North Yorkshire said that some of its pupils even used Americanisms like "diaper" and "garbage" that they had learned from their viewing, but could not communicate basic needs such as needing the toilet. The Department for Education said it has set a "clear milestone" including advanced early language support to make sure thousands of children are school-ready by age five. Kate Beck, from Mill Hill Community Primary in North Allerton, said she thought screens were a "big factor" in the steady decline she has seen in children's language skills. "Some children use American vocabulary which they are definitely hearing from a screen", she added. Ms Beck, who has been a teacher for 20 years, also said some children were not experiencing the world first-hand but seeing it through "someone else's eyes" when they were watching someone play with toys on YouTube. Meanwhile speech and language therapist Sandy Chapell, from Health Professionals for Safer Screens, said she has seen a decline in children's communication skills over the last 10 years and an increase in referrals. She said more young children were being referred with delayed speech and language abilities as well as poor social, attention and listening skills. Ms Chapell believes parents don't know how harmful screens are for young children and is calling for a public health campaign to highlight the issue. While it has been widely reported the pandemic had an impact on children's development, Ms Chapell said pre-school children today were too young to have been affected by lockdowns. "Giving a child a device to calm them down means they don't learn how to regulate their own emotions, which can lead to behaviour problems," she added. Health Professionals for Safer Screens suggest children age 0-2 should not be on any screens at all and those age 2-5 for a maximum of 30 minutes per day. However some parents said this was "unrealistic". One parent from Mill Hill Community Primary said having older children meant their younger child wanted access to the same devices, while another said screen time was a concern but they kept it "limited". They also admitted that it was a "struggle" to get the device away from their child. A Department of Education spokesperson said they were "urgently" working towards strengthening and joining up family services through "continued investment" in the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. They added: "More robust evidence is needed to reach clear conclusions on the impact of smartphones on children, which is why we have launched our own research, led by the University of Cambridge, into the impact of social media on children's overall wellbeing." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here. 'I cut phone screen time in half and life changed' How is the rise in screen time affecting children?
BBC News
10-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Experts warn pre-school children's screen time at 'crisis point'
Pre-school children's speech and language development is in "steady decline" due to an over-reliance on screen time, an expert has than 25% of three- and four-year-olds own their own smartphone and half of children under 13 are on social media, according to a recent Ofcom report. One early years centre in North Yorkshire said that some of its pupils even used Americanisms like "diaper" and "garbage" that they had learned from their viewing, but could not communicate basic needs such as needing the Department for Education said it has set a "clear milestone" including advanced early language support to make sure thousands of children are school-ready by age five. Kate Beck, from Mill Hill Community Primary in North Allerton, said she thought screens were a "big factor" in the steady decline she has seen in children's language skills. "Some children use American vocabulary which they are definitely hearing from a screen", she added. Ms Beck, who has been a teacher for 20 years, also said some children were not experiencing the world first-hand but seeing it through "someone else's eyes" when they were watching someone play with toys on speech and language therapist Sandy Chapell, from Health Professionals for Safer Screens, said she has seen a decline in children's communication skills over the last 10 years and an increase in referrals. She said more young children were being referred with delayed speech and language abilities as well as poor social, attention and listening skills. Ms Chapell believes parents don't know how harmful screens are for young children and is calling for a public health campaign to highlight the it has been widely reported the pandemic had an impact on children's development, Ms Chapell said pre-school children today were too young to have been affected by lockdowns. "Giving a child a device to calm them down means they don't learn how to regulate their own emotions, which can lead to behaviour problems," she added. Health Professionals for Safer Screens suggest children age 0-2 should not be on any screens at all and those age 2-5 for a maximum of 30 minutes per day. However some parents said this was "unrealistic". One parent from Mill Hill Community Primary said having older children meant their younger child wanted access to the same devices, while another said screen time was a concern but they kept it "limited". They also admitted that it was a "struggle" to get the device away from their child.A Department of Education spokesperson said they were "urgently" working towards strengthening and joining up family services through "continued investment" in the Family Hubs and Start for Life added: "More robust evidence is needed to reach clear conclusions on the impact of smartphones on children, which is why we have launched our own research, led by the University of Cambridge, into the impact of social media on children's overall wellbeing."Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.
