Parents and nurseries will find my phonics storybooks invaluable in engaging children to improve their communication and reading skills in a non-threatening way. This is paramount if you want small children to do well and have a better outcome in their future education – a fact revealed in a study for ‘Save the Children,’ and discussed by Branwen Jeffreys, BBC Education Editor, 17 February 2016 who said:

“A study for ‘Save the Children’ found that 21% of pupils who struggled with language as they began school, failed to meet the expected standards in national tests when they left.

The researchers said poor language skills had an effect on all children, regardless of family background.

Academics at the Institute of Education analysed the progress of 5,000 children using data from the Millennium Cohort Study and the National Pupil Database in England.

Some 23% of children who struggled with language at age five also did not reach the expected standard in their Sats (national tests) in English at age 11, the study found.

Gareth Jenkins, from Save the Children, says the research demonstrates for the first time the most crucial determinant of success in Sats tests is how well children can communicate when they start school.”