Nearly half of early years providers believe that the attainment gap between disadvantaged young children and their peers had widened since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new survey from the Early Years Alliance has found.

The online survey of more than 1,300 education professionals working in nurseries, pre-schools and childminding settings in England found that 47% believe the attainment gap has grown among under-fives over the course of the pandemic, with 11% describing the gap as “significantly bigger”.

59% of respondents reported fewer children from all backgrounds were meeting the expected level of early attainment in physical development, communication and language development, and personal, social and emotional development (collectively described as the ‘prime areas of early learning and development’) since the start of the pandemic.

Looking specifically at the impact of the first national lockdown (from 23 March to 1 June), more than half (54%) of respondents said that they observed negative changes in the learning and development of children when they returned to their setting after lockdown.

Of those that observed negative changes, around four in 10 (42%) said that these were more evident in children from more economically disadvantaged backgrounds, with 94% identifying personal, social and emotional development and 82% identifying communication and language development as being particularly impacted.

More than eight in 10 (82%) respondents said that the government is not doing enough to support early years providers to tackle the impact of the pandemic on under-fives, with many citing a lack of adequate financial resources and an inability to invest in additional staff to offer targeted support.

To date, the government has invested £1.7bn into its education ‘recovery programme’ to date; however, only £10m (0.6%) of this funding is available to early years settings.

Neil Leitch, Early Years Alliance chief exec said:

“The early years workforce is deeply committed to supporting children and families, and has done a fantastic job throughout the pandemic continuing to deliver care and education at great personal risk and with almost no additional support.

“Practitioners responding to the survey said they know exactly what children at their settings most need to recover lost skills and confidence, and that the only thing stopping them from taking action is a lack of resources. It is therefore vital that nurseries, pre-schools and childminders are given dedicated financial support for recovery, and the autonomy to use it as they see fit.

“Proper funding would enable the targeted interventions needed to improve children’s personal, social and emotional development alongside their physical development, which many respondents noted have suffered as a result of being cut off from their friends and opportunities to play and explore.

“Given the proven link between investment in early years and better educational and social outcomes, especially for the most disadvantaged children, a failure to invest now would be unforgiveable.”

Survey respondent quotes:

• “Children coming to me for the first time or returning after extended periods with only their parents are clingy, upset and afraid of strangers. They have lost the ability to play independently. They are taking a long time to settle away from their parents. Some have returned with very good literacy and numeracy skills but are nowhere near where they should be with personal, social and emotional development, or physical and self-care skills. They are lacking in gross motor skills because they have been indoors a lot and some who could put on their own shoes before lockdown have forgotten how.”
• “They expect me to pick them up and carry them when they can walk perfectly well. They look at toys and loose parts blankly, with no idea how to explore and use their imaginations. They often ask for the TV or to play with my phone and are confused when I tell them ‘no’. I worry about what this year has done to their development and how long it will take to make up for lost learning.”

• “The only thing preventing us from delivering all the interventions we would like to be able to deliver is a lack of finances. We are running with the minimum level of staff to meet the statutory requirements, because we cannot afford to pay additional staff. More staff would enable more and more effective interventions which would have a huge impact on the learning and development of all our children but particularly those that are currently underachieving.”
• “There needs to be more money given to early years settings so they can address the gaps in children’s learning and the workforce need the same recognition as teachers.”
• “We need more funding and a better understanding in government of what early years is and does. When you hear ministers talk about three- and four-year-olds, you get the impression that they have no understanding of what a child of this age does or is capable of.”
• “As a professional in the early years, it saddens me that we are rarely mentioned as key educators throughout this pandemic. It has also been difficult to access support from external professionals to support children with additional needs and behavioural issues as they are not allowed to visit and it is our policy not to have visitors at this time.”
• “Our children and families need support now. If we do not invest this time and support now, we will see the consequences as these children continue their educational journey.”