Early Years and Good Child Development

This topic area covers statistics and information relating to early years in Hull including local strategic need and service provision including good child development and ‘readiness’ for school. Further information relating to Schools, Education and Qualifications is given under Health and Wellbeing Influences. Information relating to Children with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities is under Health Factors under Children and Young Children. Further information on early help in relation to mental health and emotional wellbeing is given in Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Among Children and Young People under Health Factors within Children and Young People. Further information relating to A&E attendances and hospital admissions is given within A&E Attendances and Hospital Admissions under Health Factors within Children and Young People. More information on the reasons for referral for early help is available on Hull’s Early Help and Prevention Programme within Child Development under Children and Young People, and this can give an indication around the needs of children living in Hull.

This page contains information from the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips. Information is taken ‘live’ from the site so uses the latest available data from Fingertips and displays it on this page. As a result, some comments on this page may relate to an earlier period of time until this page is next updated (see review dates at the end of this page).

Headlines

• Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances.
• The majority of children in Hull lead happy and healthy lives, are part of loving families who take good care of them and support them to reach their potential. All children in Hull deserve the best possible start in life but unfortunately there are some who face disadvantages that affect their development, which impacts on their future potential, health and happiness.
• In 2021/22, 94% had their one year review and 89% had their 2-2.5 year review in Hull, and 91% of the children having their 2-2.5 year review had the Ages and Stages Questionnaire 3. Of out the children receiving the assessment, 93.5% achieved a good level of development which was higher than England (81.9%). The percentage of children achieving the expected level of development in communication skills, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, problem solving skills and personal-social skills were all higher in Hull compared to England. However, given Hull’s high levels of deprivation and data quality issues acknowledged to be present within this data, any findings relating to outcomes among 2-2.5 year olds in Hull should be treated cautiously.
• Assessments in schools were not undertaken during the 2019/20 and 2020/21 school years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2018/19 school year, 68% of children at the end of reception achieved a good level of development in Hull which was lower than England (72%), however, among children eligible for free school meals the percentage was higher in Hull (59% versus 57%). Overall, 68% of children in Hull achieved at least the expected level of development in communication, language and literacy skills by the end of reception compared to 73% for England.
• In 2018/19, among children in Year 1 (aged 5-6 years), 79% achieved the expected levels in phonics compared to 82% in England, but the percentage achieving the expected level among children eligible for free school meals was similar in Hull to England (both 70%).

The Population Affected – Why Is It Important?

Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up.

The majority of children in Hull lead happy and healthy lives, are part of loving families who take good care of them and support them to reach their potential. All children in Hull deserve the best possible start in life but unfortunately there are some who face disadvantages that affect their development, which impacts on their future potential, health and happiness. Providing ‘Early Help’ plays a vital part in offering these children and their families the support they need to reach their potential and keep them safe.

Marmot in his strategic review of health inequalities in England post-2010 stated that parents are the most important ‘educators’ of their children for both cognitive and non-cognitive skills. He also stated that parental involvement in their child’s reading has been found to be the most important determinant of language and emergent literacy.

Literacy is the combination of reading, writing, speaking and listening skills we all need to fulfil our potential. These life skills are essential to the happiness, health and wealth of individuals and society. Fourteen percent of children and young people in lower income homes rarely or never read their books for pleasure. One in five parents easily find the opportunity to read to their children, with the rest struggling to read to their children due to fatigue and busy lifestyles.

Analysis of data from the Millennium Cohort Study suggests that parents who combine high levels of parental warmth with high levels of supervision are more likely to have children at age five who are more confident, autonomous and empathic. On the other hand, a ‘disengaged’ parenting style is associated with poorer outcomes for children in terms of qualifications, relationship problems, unemployment and becoming teenage parents.

As well as good home learning environment, early years’ education is very important. The original Sure Start Children’s Centres programme was based on evidence that effective early intervention prevented costs to society later on. Locally-led community-based programmes can engage those families who might not otherwise seek help. Pre-school shows a significant positive effect on early cognitive outcomes for all levels of quality and duration compared to none. Furthermore, having long pre-school experience has greater benefit on literacy outcomes, whatever the quality, although long good quality pre-school had the greatest effects on early outcomes and at age 11 (test scores and social and behavioural outcomes).

Ensuring children are ready for school and can achieve good levels of education is essential for them to achieve well-paid satisfying regular employment, increase resilience, and improve health and wellbeing. Children living in more deprived areas are more likely to grow up thinking that poverty, poor housing, and unemployment are the norm, which could result in cyclic behaviours with these children behaving as their parents do as they reach adulthood. Early intervention in childhood can help reduce physical and mental health problems and prevent social dysfunction being passed from one generation to the next. More information is available on Hull’s Early Help and Prevention Programme within Child Development under Children and Young People.

Following the Children and Families Act 2014, children and young people (under the age of 25 years) who have special educational needs may have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, developed by all professionals and the family working together, to address all needs that a child or young person has within education, health and care.

The national definition of Early Help is: “The total support that improves a family’s resilience and outcomes, or reduces the chance of a problem getting worse”. As the national definition says, effective Early Help services can prevent problems from occurring and can tackle them head on when they do, before problems get worse. It also helps to build resilience in families, developing strength and skills that prepare children for adult life and help families to cope better with the challenges life throws at them.

The Hull Picture

Good Child Development and Readiness for School

Child Development Reviews at Ages One and Two Years

Children have a development review when they are one and between the ages of 2 and 2.5 years.

During 2021/22, a high number of children in Hull received their 12 month (93.5%) and 2 – 2.5 year (89.3%) review in Hull, and among those having a 2 – 2.5 year review, a relatively high percentage (91.0%) had the Ages and Stages Questionnaire 3 (ASQ-3) as part of their Healthy Child Programme review. From the ASQ-3, it is possible to measure achievement against difference expected levels of development.

In 2021/22, the percentages receiving their 12 month and 2-2.5 year reviews were substantially – and statistically significantly – higher than England.

The percentage of children receiving their one and 2-2.5 year reviews fell slightly in 2020/21 which is probably associated with the COVID-19. Whilst the rate fell in Hull, the percentage fell by a greater amount for England overall. However, the rate increased in 2021/22 to a similar percentage at it had been prior to the pandemic.

Over the period 2017/18 to 2020/21, a higher percentage of children in Hull have had their one and 2-2.5 year reviews.

Out of the children receiving their 2-2.5 year review, the percentages who were assessed using the ASQ-3 questionnaire was statistically significantly lower than England for four of the five years between 2015/16 and 2019/20, but the percentage was slightly higher or comparable to England for both 2020/21 and 2021/22.

For 2021/22, among children aged 2 – 2.5 years who completed the ASQ-3 as part of their review, 85% achieved a good level of development in Hull which was higher than England, and among the highest among local authorities across the Yorkshire and Humber region. However, this information must be treated cautiously as it is acknowledged by The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (formerly Public Health England) on their Fingertips tool that “there are concerns regarding the quality of these data indicators”.

There is some year-on-year variability in the percentages of Hull children achieving a good level of development. The latest percentage is the lowest it has been at 85% for the latest year.

For 2021/22, the percentage of children achieving the expected level in communication, gross and fine motor skills, problem solving and personal-social skills were all higher in Hull compared to England for 2-2.5 year olds assessed on the ASQ-3.

In general, the percentages have been consistently high in Hull compared to England, and have decreased in the latest year to 2021/22. However, given Hull’s high levels of deprivation, it is possible that the figures do not reflect the situation in Hull, and it is acknowledged that there are data quality issues associated with these indicators.

School Readiness Measured in Reception Year

‘School readiness’ is also measured at the end of reception year to ascertain if a child is achieving the expected level of development for their age in preparation for the child entering school Year 1.

There have been recent improvements for two out of the three summary measures across the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile, although the percentage of children achieving a good level of development is lower in Hull than England for children.

For 2018/19, whilst all children in Hull had a lower percentage achieving a good level of development compared to England, children eligible for free school meals had a higher percentage achieving a good level of development. However, among all Hull children, a lower percentage achieved at least the expected levels of development in communication, language and literacy skills at the end of their school reception year compared to England.

Data is not available for 2019/20 and 2020/21 as assessments were not undertaken in schools due to national lockdowns for the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools were closed to the majority of pupils between the end of March 2020 to the end of the school year in July 2020, and during the majority of the Spring term between Christmas and Easter in 2021 (opening a couple of weeks prior to the Easter school holiday).

Between 2012/13 and 2018/19, there has been a consistent improvement in the percentages of children in reception year achieving a good level of development. There was a sharp improvement in the first 3-4 years as the new assessment became established, with slight improvements thereafter.

The percentages in Hull have been consistently lower than England, but the improvements in Hull’s percentages have been slightly greater than those for England thus reducing the inequalities gap between England and Hull from 10 percentage points in 2012/13 to four percentage points in 2018/19.

Among those eligible for free school meals, the percentage in Hull achieving a good level of development has been similar to England, and slightly higher the last two years. The pattern is similar to all children in that the increases were greater in the first 3-4 years and improvements in the last three years have been smaller.

There have been marked improvements in the percentage of reception children achieving at least the expected level of development in communication, language and literacy skills, and the increases in Hull have been greater than those in England so the inequalities gap between Hull and England has narrowed. There was a 11.6 percentage points gap between Hull and England in 2012/13, but this decreased to 4.6 in 2018/19. However, the percentages in Hull are still lower than England, and in 2018/19, 150 more children would have had the expected development level in Hull if the percentage in Hull was the same as England’s at 72.6%.

Expected Levels Among Year 1 Children

Fingertips also presents information on the percentage of children in Year 1 who are at the expected level in terms of phonics screening check. Again, assessments were not completed in 2019/20 and 2020/21 due to the COVID-19 lockdowns and schools being closed for part of the school year so the latest data is for 2018/19.

For 2018/19, whilst all children in Hull had a slightly lower percentage achieving a good level of development compared to England, the subset of children eligible for free school meals had a similar percentage achieving a good level of development to England.

The trends over time follow a similar pattern to that for ‘school readiness’ measured at the end of reception year. Quite large increases were observed after the assessments were first introduced as schools got used to the new assessments, and after they were established, there were much smaller increases in the percentages achieving the expected levels of development.

The percentage achieving the expected levels in their phonics screening test have increased at a slightly higher rate over the entire period 2010/11 to 2018/19 in Hull compared to England. This means that the inequalities gap between Hull and England has reduced slightly over time, and this occurred both overall and in the subset of children eligible for free school meals.

Whilst the percentage of children in Year 1 achieving the expected level in their phonics screening test in Hull has been statistically significantly lower than England for the entire period 2011/12 to 2018/19, the percentage among children eligible for free school meals has been comparable to the percentage in England for the last five years.

Early Help

More information on the reasons for referral for early help is available on Hull’s Early Help and Prevention Programme within Child Development under Children and Young People, and this can give an indication around the needs of children living in Hull.

Strategic Need and Service Provision

As a good education is very important for future health and wellbeing, it is essential that children are ready for school, and children and young people are able to maximise their achievements whilst at school, college and university, so that they can have good employment prospects. Children potentially requiring additional support should be assessed as quickly as possible as early help gives rise to better outcomes. Children with an Education and Health Care plan or in receipt of Special Educational Needs support need to have clear, comprehensive, integrated plans drawn up as soon as possible, with all professionals and the family working together to give the child the best possible care and support. There should also be promotion of physical and mental wellbeing across all educational settings.

Therefore it is essential that children and families requiring help can access the right help quickly. It is also imperative that service providers as part of their routine visits and child assessments seek out children and families who require help as not all those who require help will ask for help. More information is available on Hull’s Early Help and Prevention Programme within Child Development under Children and Young People. The model of support from Hull’s Early Help and Prevention Programme reduces demand for specialist and acute services by using a joined up and evidence based approach to Early Help, resulting in improved outcomes and life chances for families through their needs being met earlier.

Resources

The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips. https://fingertips.phe.org.uk

Marmot, M., Fair society, healthy lives: the Marmot review: strategic review of health inequalities in England post-2010.  University College London Institute of Health: London, 2010.

A Bus, A.G., M.H. van IJzendoorn, and A.D. Pellegrini, Joint book reading makes for success in learning to read: a meta-analysis on intergenerational transmission of literacy. Review of Educational Research, 1995. 65(1): p. 1-21.

Lexmond, J. and R. Reeves, Building Character. 2009, Demos.: London.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Social and emotional wellbeing for children and young people: Local government briefing.  www.nice.org.uk. 2013, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence: London.

Bynner, J., Childhood risks and protective factors in social exclusion. 2001, London: Institute of Education.

Farrington, D., Explaining and preventing crime: the globalization of knowledge. 1999: The American Society of Criminology.

Utting, D., Suggestions for the UK: an overview of possible action.

Department for Education, Early years evidence pack: pack summarising evidence on achievement at the early years foundation stage. 2011, Department for Education: London.

Early Help. Service Guide and Performance Review 2019/20. Hull City Council, 2020.

Hull’s Early Help and Prevention Strategy 2021-25. https://www.hull.gov.uk/sites/hull/files/media/Hull%20Early%20Help%20and%20Prevention%20Strategy%202021-25.pdf

Updates

This page was last updated / checked on 7 November 2022.

This page is due to be updated / checked in February 2023.