How health and family support systems are failing children starting school

by Michelle Windridge, National Education Lead for School-Based Early Years, Twinkl

Contents

As young children take their first steps across the reception classroom threshold, one thing is certain: we will not have to wait long before the discussions around this most recent cohort’s school readiness begin.

Over the past few years, the perceived decline in standards of children’s school readiness has been a hot topic. And as you might expect, blame is placed firmly with the parents…and even the children. This sentiment was made clear back in April this year when Bridget Phillipson, while still in her post as Education Secretary, released guidelines on how to make sure your child was ready for school. But Michelle Winbridge, National Education Lead for School-Based Early Years at Twinkl discusses what other factors could be at play here and whether our idea of ‘school readiness’ needs an overhaul.

School readiness or system readiness? Are we asking the wrong question? By Michelle Windridge

Every September, the conversation begins again.

Reception teachers describe children arriving with limited language, reduced independence, difficulties managing emotions, and increasing levels of developmental need. Headlines quickly follow, questioning whether children are “school ready” and calling for parents to do more to prepare them for formal education.

It is an appealing narrative because it is simple. If children are not ready, then parents, nurseries or the children themselves must somehow be falling short.

Yet this explanation overlooks a far more uncomfortable truth.

What if the issue is not that children are failing to meet the expectations of school, but that the systems designed to support them before they arrive have been steadily weakened? Rather than asking why so many children are starting Reception “behind”, perhaps we should instead ask whether our education, health and family support systems were ever truly ready for them.

A changing picture in Reception

Few Reception teachers would dispute that the profile of children entering school has changed significantly over recent years.

Many report increasing numbers of children requiring support with communication and language, emotional regulation, social interaction and physical development. These challenges are often accompanied by greater levels of anxiety, reduced resilience and a growing number of children presenting with unidentified additional needs.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Profile Results continue to show disparities in children’s attainment on entry to school and at the end of Reception, particularly for disadvantaged children. While these figures are frequently presented as evidence that children are less prepared for school, they tell only part of the story.

Children do not develop in isolation. Their early development is shaped by the support systems surrounding them, including health services, early education, family support and community provision. When those systems become fragmented, developmental differences are almost inevitable.

The erosion of early intervention

For decades, early intervention has been recognised as one of the most effective ways to improve children’s long-term outcomes.

The evidence is overwhelming that identifying developmental concerns early leads to better educational achievement, improved wellbeing and reduced demand for specialist services later in childhood.

However, despite widespread agreement about its importance, access to early intervention has become increasingly inconsistent.

Health visiting services have experienced significant workforce reductions over the past decade, resulting in fewer universal contacts for families and less opportunity to identify emerging developmental concerns. Many parents now report limited contact beyond the statutory newborn reviews, reducing opportunities to identify speech delays, social communication difficulties or concerns around emotional development.

At the same time, the closure of many Sure Start Children’s Centres, alongside reductions in local authority family support services, has fundamentally altered the landscape of early childhood support. Although Family Hubs have begun to replace some services in parts of England, provision remains uneven, with considerable variation between Local Authorities.

For many families, particularly those experiencing disadvantage, the safety net that once surrounded the early years has become increasingly difficult to access.

Waiting for support that never comes

Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in speech and language services.

Communication is fundamental to every aspect of learning. It underpins literacy, social relationships, emotional regulation and later academic success. Yet demand for speech and language therapy has risen sharply while services struggle to keep pace.

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (2024) highlighted increasing waiting times for assessment and intervention across many areas of England. In some regions, children wait many months before receiving support, with families often advised to monitor concerns while waiting for specialist input.

For a four-year-old preparing to start school, months matter.

Reception teachers increasingly become the professionals identifying needs that might once have been addressed much earlier. By the time support arrives, children may already be experiencing frustration, reduced confidence and widening developmental gaps.

This is not a reflection of poor parenting.

Nor is it evidence of children failing to meet expectations.

Rather, it could be argued that this demonstrates a system struggling to provide timely support during the years when intervention is known to be most effective.

Schools cannot replace public services

Schools have always played a central role in supporting children’s development. Increasingly, however, they are being asked to compensate for challenges that originate far beyond the classroom.

Reception teachers now find themselves supporting speech development, emotional wellbeing, toileting, sensory regulation, family support and safeguarding alongside delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum.

This growing expectation sits alongside the Government’s 2026 Schools White Paper, which rightly identifies early intervention as a cornerstone of improving outcomes for children. The White Paper proposes earlier identification of need, strengthened inclusion, enhanced support for children with SEND, and greater collaboration between education, health and family services. These ambitions reflect what early years professionals have argued for many years: that addressing developmental needs early is both more effective for children and more sustainable for the education system.

However, recognising the importance of early intervention and delivering it are two very different things. Early intervention cannot begin only when a child walks through the Reception classroom door. By that point, opportunities to identify emerging speech and language difficulties, developmental delays or family support needs may already have been missed. True early intervention begins long before compulsory education, through well-resourced health visiting services, accessible speech and language provision, high-quality early years settings and integrated family support.

Many schools have responded creatively to the increasing levels of need they are seeing. Nurture approaches, language-rich environments, forest school provision, family engagement programmes and trauma-informed practice have become increasingly common.

These approaches undoubtedly make a difference.

Yet they cannot replace specialist health services, educational psychology, health visiting, speech and language therapy or accessible family support.

There is a growing risk that schools become the default solution for problems created elsewhere within the system. While the Schools White Paper rightly champions earlier intervention, its success will ultimately depend on whether the wider infrastructure surrounding children and families is sufficiently resourced to intervene before needs become more complex. Without that investment, early intervention risks becoming another responsibility transferred to schools rather than a genuinely integrated, cross-sector approach.

As Professor Kathy Sylva has long argued, high-quality early education is most effective when it works alongside strong health and family services rather than replacing them. Schools are one part of a child’s developmental ecosystem, not the whole system.

Join us on BlueSky

SNJ WhatsApp Channel

The danger of deficit thinking

The phrase “school readiness” can unintentionally encourage deficit thinking.

When children are repeatedly described as lacking resilience, language or independence, it becomes easy to see those children as the problem. Yet many of the characteristics associated with school readiness are heavily influenced by environmental factors.

Children’s language develops through rich conversations, shared play and responsive adult interaction. Self-regulation grows through secure relationships and consistent co-regulation. Social confidence develops through opportunities to mix with peers, explore new environments and build independence over time.

These experiences are not distributed equally.

Families living with financial insecurity, poor housing, limited childcare access or long waiting times for support services face additional barriers that have little to do with parenting ability. The Education Policy Institute has highlighted inequalities in children’s development, particularly among disadvantaged communities where access to early support has become increasingly constrained.

When systems fail to provide equitable opportunities, differences in children’s development should not be mistaken for deficits within the child.

The cost of labelling children as “behind”

Describing children as “behind” carries consequences. Labels influence expectations.

Research consistently demonstrates that teacher expectations can shape children’s educational experiences and future attainment. While early identification of need is essential, it must not become synonymous with lower expectations.

Most developmental differences at age four are neither fixed nor inevitable. Children develop at different rates, particularly when provided with responsive teaching, targeted intervention and nurturing relationships. Reception teachers witness this every year—children who begin school with limited confidence often flourish within months. Children with delayed speech frequently make rapid progress when provided with language-rich environments. Children who struggle to regulate emotions gradually develop these skills through patient, responsive relationships.

The challenge is ensuring that schools have the resources necessary to provide this support without becoming overwhelmed by unmet need.

Rethinking readiness

Perhaps it is time to rethink what readiness actually means. Rather than viewing readiness as something children either possess or lack, we might instead see it as a shared responsibility.

Children should certainly experience opportunities that prepare them for school. Families deserve accessible support throughout the early years. Early years settings need sustainable funding to deliver high-quality provision. Health services require sufficient capacity to identify developmental concerns promptly. Schools need access to specialist expertise without lengthy delays.

When each part of the system functions effectively, children are far more likely to thrive. This represents system readiness.

Without it, discussions about school readiness risk placing responsibility on those with the least power to change their circumstances.

Promoted

Looking forward

There are encouraging signs that policymakers increasingly recognise the importance of integrated early years support. The expansion of Family Hubs, renewed focus on speech and language development and continued investment in early years professional development all represent positive steps.

However, meaningful change requires sustained investment rather than isolated initiatives.

If we genuinely want children to arrive at school ready to learn, we must ensure that every family can access timely health visiting, developmental checks, high-quality early education, speech and language support and family services long before Reception begins. Otherwise, schools will continue to receive children whose needs might have been addressed years earlier.

Reception teachers should not become the first professionals to notice developmental concerns that could have been identified in infancy. Nor should children be labelled as “behind” because the support systems designed to help them never materialised.

Perhaps the question has never been whether children are ready for school. Perhaps the more important question is whether the system was ever truly ready for them.

About the author

Michelle Windridge is Twinkl’s National Education Lead for School-Based Early Years, bringing over 25 years of teaching and school leadership experience across EYFS, KS1, and KS2.

Previously, Michelle worked as a Lecturer in Education, helping to prepare future teachers and achieving Fellowship status in recognition of her commitment to teaching and learning.

Before joining Twinkl, Michelle held several senior roles, including Assistant Headteacher, Specialist Leader of Education, Local Authority Moderator and EYFS Aspiration Leader. Michelle currently serves as an external examiner in Higher Education and a Childcare Strategy Director.

Disabled Children’s Rights are Under Attack.
We’re fighting, but we can’t do it alone: we need your help more than ever.
We’re volunteer-run, but costs are rising. To help us keep going, please consider a one-off or, if it’s possible, a regular donation.
Read more about being a regular donor here.
We use Zeffy to fundraise, which doesn’t charge us a fee, so 100% of your donation reaches us.

DONATE TO HELP
KEEP SNJ ONLINE!

Key Content

a monkey in the jungle with a magnifying glass and a deerstalker hat

image includes graphics from the article

Don’t miss a thing!

Don’t miss any posts from SNJ – simply add your email address below. You must click the link in the confirmation email you’ll receive to activate your free subscription.

You can also keep up with us by following our

WhatsApp Channel!

Want more? Be an SNJ regular donor!

SNJ is a non-profit and everyone who writes here does so voluntarily. We need your support to help us with costs by donating once or as a regular patron. Find out more here

About
Latest Posts

Twinkl SEND

Twinkl was founded in 2010 by husband and wife Jonathan and Susie Seaton, with a mission
‘to help those who teach’. The company provides high quality learning materials and
educational services, which are all teacher-created and checked.
Today, Twinkl offers over 1.5 million resources via its website, with new content added daily.
These range from classroom content and assessments, to AI tools and augmented reality
games. Twinkl is used and trusted by schools and educators across the UK, and in over 200
countries and regions around the world - including primary and secondary school teachers,
nursery workers and parents