On Wednesday 15th May 2024, our development director Susan Peatfield was pleased to attend a Civitas event at the House of Lords, sponsored by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts CBE. The intention was to start up a public conversation about parenting. It was also overdue as the issues and research data discussed at the meeting made explicit the shortfall in children’s developmental levels on beginning school. There has been, and remains, a political reluctance at touching the role of parents in this, and so Civitas is to be commended for commissioning the School Readiness Survey by Kindred Squared, to add research weight to the argument.
In summary the survey of over 1000 teachers and 1000 parents revealed what many in the teaching and care professions have been aware of for many years. Too many children are behind before they begin Reception:
- 46% of children are unable to sit still
- 38% find it hard to play/share with other children
- 37% are unable to listen or respond to basic instructions
- 37% are unable to dress independently
- 25% are not toilet trained
Alongside many findings comes this figure: 69% of school staff think parents should receive more guidance to help them understand their child’s development.
From the floor questions and statements underlined the variety of concerned groups and their specific insights. These included Anne Fennell, Chair of Mothers at Home Matter, who questioned successive government’s determination to provide childcare outside the home rather than making it economically viable for a parent to remain at home during their children’s vital early years.
Miriam Cates MP summarised the current situation as one where the old model of parenting being “caught not taught” no longer operates. Smaller families, family breakdown, misapprehensions about family life have all contributed to this. Parents do need guidance on how to be parents, as the “osmosis” effect is no longer an option for many families.
Home Renaissance Foundation has a distinctive voice and vision to offer to this debate. HRF’s perspective is the need for the reskilling of the home with an emphasis on childcare and child development. For many reasons, as discussed during this event, the home has been deskilled and parents are less confident in how to best make a home that nurtures all its members, including the youngest and most vulnerable.
At HRF we are determined to continue this conversation and to add our experience of training for excellence in the home – the first steps to a healthier, happier and better prepared next generation.
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