Children Starting School ‘Still in Nappies and Buggies,’ Report Finds

Children are arriving at primary school still wearing nappies, using buggies and unable to communicate properly with their classmates, the former children’s commissioner for England has said. Anne Longfield warned that many young children are not receiving the support needed to boost their “school readiness” in the report from her Centre for Young Lives think tank in conjunction with campaign group, Child of the North. The report places a degree of blame at the door of the “COVID-19 pandemic” for exacerbating many early years developmental problems. Research has consistently shown that lockdowns and other measures, such as social distancing and masking, had a hugely detrimental impact on babies and children, with one recent report showing a 13 percent difference in the number of children considered “school ready” before and after the period of school closures and restrictions....