– According to the “The State of Education Survey” carried out by schools support service “The Key” (England and Wales), about a third of children are not “school-ready” in the early days of reception class. Worrying numbers of 4 and 5-year-old children are behind in various ways, including language and social skills. Some of the respondents of the study blamed the detrimental effect of technology on family life. “Four-year-olds know how to swipe a phone but haven’t a clue about conversations,” said a primary school headteacher.

– 79 percent of interviewed teachers considered the lack of social skills as a major issue, while 78 percent of them saw “delayed speech” as a main problem. “I feel much of this is down to challenging family circumstances alongside the rise of mobile phones and other mobile technology, which means parents are more often to be seen on the phone than talking to their children,” said one school leader. For his part Fergal Roche, CEO of The Key, highlighted the additional burden on teachers and the need to find an agreed definition of “school readiness.”

Many teachers are concerned about children’s delayed language skills

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