Cost to the Nation of Children's Poor Communication report

I CAN, the children's communication charity, has produced the Cost to the Nation of Children's Poor Communication report. The report aims to give fresh insights into an emerging 21st century problem: impoverished language. It documents the accumulating evidence of poor basic communication skills in children arriving in today's reception classes. The report highlights the critical importance of creating a communication supportive environment in the early years at home and in school, and calls for support for parents and skilled carers and educators in the pre-school years. Following is the report's summary.

Summary
Effective oral language skills are the building blocks on which subsequent literacy and numeracy development is based. Without solid foundations in language and communication skills, children run the risk of school failure, low self esteem and poor social skills. Yet up to 80% of children in some areas of the UK are starting school without these vital skills.

The government's focus on raising standards in basic skills recognises the need to develop a workforce which adds value in an increasingly global, knowledge-based economy. It acknowledges the impact of poor levels of literacy and numeracy on social and economic development.

This I CAN Talk report outlines three of the contemporary issues in children's communication; the growing recognition of the scale of children's poor communication, the increased awareness of the need for early intervention and the importance of skills development for the entire children's workforce. The report then considers the cost of poor communication skills to the individual, the family and to the nation. While highlighting the financial impact the paper summarises the strong evidence of the devastating effect of communication difficulties on life chances.

In moving on to highlight what works, the report summarises the interventions that have been shown to work. Skilled and confident carers, focused early intervention programmes, integrated approaches and a developed children's workforce are all key factors in the successful development of children's communication skills and support for children with difficulties.

However, the report concludes, that while progress has been made in placing children's communication on the policy agenda, access to support remains a 'postcode lottery'. There is neither a national strategy nor a national service framework to support the development of communication skills for all children. There is evidence to suggest that charities and other public bodies are collaborating to further raise this as a policy issue.