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Worrying Weaknesses in Language Development: Primary School Children in the UK
Photo: Philip Toscano / dpa
Shutdown with far-reaching consequences: After several months of contact restrictions, schools in England are experiencing significantly more language weaknesses among primary school children in their first year of school.
This is the central interim result of a survey that the University of York carried out in cooperation with several educational organizations.
The study was published by the Education Endowment Foundation.
School administrators from a total of 58 primary schools in England were interviewed.
You should assess the knowledge and skills of the children who started school in autumn 2020 - after the first Corona wave.
96 percent of those responsible stated in the survey that they were "very concerned" or "fairly concerned" about the language development and communication of their school beginners.
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Most of the respondents were also concerned about the emotional and social development of the students.
The teachers attributed this, among other things, to the fact that social contacts for the children were extremely restricted during the Corona months - not only were there no playground meetings with their peers, but also meetings with their grandparents or other contact persons.
Around three quarters of schools reported that the children who started their school career in autumn 2020 needed more support than previous years.
Many of the parents surveyed stated that they were worried before their children started school - but above all about the emotional well-being of their children and less about their language skills.
him / dpa