Stoke-on-Trent City Council has invested in 'school readiness' and is already reaping the results. In the first phase of a 3 year programme, 38 private and voluntary settings and 36 schools have been trained to screen their children's language skills in the early years. Any children found with a speech, language or communication need are then offered 'targeted' support to help them develop early language skills.
The results for over 4000 children are really promising. On the original baseline only 35% of the children were 'on track' with their language. On the repeat measure 9 months later 54% were on track. These results show that with focused work we can improve children's outcomes. Read the full report here.