Thousands of five-years olds are to get five months of one-to-one support to help them catch up with key language skills disrupted by the pandemic.
More than 6,500 English primary schools have signed up for a multi-million pound catch-up scheme for Reception-age children aimed at the most disadvantaged pupils.
From February, schools will run 20-week programmes with one-to-one and small-group support for five-year-olds whose speech skills has been disrupted by Covid-19.
A third of primary schools have already signed up, exceeding the Government’s target for a quarter of all primaries to be involved in the scheme.