Nursery World - Ofsted chief calls on nurseries to help close the 'word gap'

Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman is telling childcare practitioners to read 'time-honoured classics' to children to help solve the problem of four-year-olds starting school unable to communicate.

Speaking today at the Pre-school Learning Alliance’s annual conference in London, Ms Spielman will stress the importance of nurseries and childminders investing time early on reading aloud, singing, reciting nursery rhymes or just talking to children as much as possible.

According to Ms Spielman, some children at age four have less than a third of the English vocabulary of their peers, adding that this is not just the case for children who don't have English as a second language.

'Unlucky children’ don't have nursery rhymes, ABCs and settling down for a bedtime story as part their daily routine, she says. She suggests these children need more structured learning to replace what they don’t get at home.

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