What EYFS leaders said around speech, language and communication

Thank-you to the 30 EYFS leaders who have responded  to the survey around the speech, language and communication needs of children joining their schools in September 2020 and on the potential training needs of their teams.
Early results suggest that your concerns centre on lack of routine for children who have been home for six months with varying levels of support.  Some EAL children may not have experienced spoken English during that period, those with identified speech and language or other needs will have missed various therapy appointments, and all children may be less ‘school ready’ in terms of listening skills, socialisation and attachment.  Some EYFS leaders believed there was a need for training in speech and language to support these young learners and many would be interested in taking part in a project with the Local Authority.
The results will be collated and used by the Education Performance and Achievement sub-group in their work around the language deficit and by the Early Years team.