New Literacy / Fathers Research

You wait for days for an early years story to make the news, and then two come along at once...

A new Ofsted report published this morning warns of weaknesses in the foundation stage in the learning of language and literacy, and identifies an achievement gap between boys and girls even at this early age. The full report is available online.

Also published today is The State of the Modern Family, a report from the Equal Opportunities Commission; this draws from data taken from the Millennium Cohort Study, and suggests that children are more likely to have development problems if their fathers do not take paternity leave or spend sufficient time with them at an early age. If you're feeling brave then you can view the full data behind the report.