Concern over the number of children starting school in nappies and using buggies
The pandemic is being blamed for problems with early years development
There is concern over the number of children arriving at school still wearing nappies, using buggies and unable to communicate properly with their classmates.
A new report by the Centre for Young Lives and the Child of the North says the covid lockdowns has led to more problems with early years development
The former children's commissioner for England Anne Longfield warns that too many young children are being "held back" as they are not receiving the support needed to boost their "school readiness".
The report suggests that around a third of children were not considered to be "school ready" in 2022/23.
It also calls on the Government to implement positive parenting programmes and home visits by trained professionals to increase support to families.
"High levels of concern"
Ms Longfield, executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives, said: "I have heard many concerning experiences from school staff about children arriving at Reception wearing nappies, still using buggies, and unable to communicate at the expected level or to socialise with other children.
"Some of these children have developmental problems, struggle with speech and behaviour, and can require significant extra attention and support from already overstretched schools."
The report warned that a "widened" language gap between children from more and less advantaged communities since the pandemic could hinder an entire generation of young people.
Schools and nurseries have "high levels of concern" around speech and language, with significant numbers of children below age-related expectations at the end of Reception, it said.
Sarah Smith who runs Wharfedale and Craven Mumbler agrees the pandemic had a huge impact: "This year's reception are the COVID cohort, and they weren't exposed to social situations for such a young age. You know, they weren't going to baby groups with their Mum, they weren't socialising with other kids."
But she also add the cost of living is having an impact: "Socialising is harder, even for the parents. You know everything's more expensive. Even just going to a soft play and having a coffee with some other Mums is now beyond the reach of some people because they need to feed and heat the house."
Sarah says the closure of libraries is also making the situation worse: "Books are really expensive. You know, when ours two were little, we spent a lot of time in the library bringing books home that they could read because, they get the book that they love and they want to read again and again and again. But they also want to read 10 books a week and that's just not affordable."
A Government source said: "This is yet another example of the trail of devastation the Conservatives left across education.
"This report will make tough reading for the Tories, who should be doing some soul searching. Instead, they spent their conference bashing maternity pay and defending Liz Truss' disastrous mini-budget.
"This Labour government is focused on fixing the foundations and rebuilding Britain, beginning the work of rolling out school-based nurseries, implementing early speech and language interventions, and driving forward the child poverty taskforce."