Auckland primary school children are missing basic skills such as talking, eating and toileting

A damning new report shows nearly 90% of Auckland primary schools say there’s an increase in new entrants who do not know basics like how to talk, spell their name and toilet properly.

The survey, commissioned by the Auckland Primary Principals’ Association, was undertaken across 120 primary and intermediate schools, with 92% of schools reporting children who didn’t know the letters of their own name and others having challenges dressing and unable to hold a pencil.

New Shoots Children’s Centre director Kelly Seaburg told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking the question should be around how many of these children had started school without attending early learning education (ECE).

“Perhaps the number of kids not attending ECE, or as frequently, maybe those numbers are stacking up.”

She said it was obvious when a child had attended a good quality ECE or not, but that there was not enough data around specifics.

“There’s no direct link at the moment, principals are just saying they’re suspecting they haven’t been in ECE, parents just say yes or no – there’s no data around how many hours they’ve attended ... There’s no clear picture.”

Seaburg said a new framework had been rolled out over the last few years that was helping to bring children up to standard with a focus on language, early literature, math, social and emotional development.

Auckland Primary Principals Association president Lucy Naylor said the survey was concerning and highlighted the critical role early childcare played in supporting the transition into primary school.

“We are seeing an increasing gap in school readiness, with children often entering primary school with developmental levels equivalent to 3-year-olds, especially in self-management and oral language.

Massey Primary School assistant principal Anna Watkin said the school was seeing increasing numbers of children entering the classroom who couldn’t hold a pencil or recognise their name.

“They struggle with empathy, focus and even basic things like toileting. It takes at least three years to catch them up to expected curriculum standards.”

Naylor said it came down to the critical importance of quality ECE for new entrants, noting it could be a tough physical and financial juggle for parents.

“We need to ensure the funding and support is in place so that collectively, we can set New Zealand’s children up for long-term learning success.”

Massey Primary had set up two new entrant stages to support children going through different phases of school-readiness.

Naylor said ECE was not just about providing parents with a care option so they could go to work, but about achieving the best possible outcomes for children.