Telford News

Council cabinet in agreement over school readiness plan

Council leaders have approved a plan to encourage parents to get their tots ready to go to school by using what one councillor called a “whimsical list” of activities.

The list has 50 suggested activities to stimulate young minds, including blowing bubbles and catching them, blowing a dandelion, and laying on the ground to watch the clouds sail by (with a parent).

There was cross party support for the 5by5 initiative which aims to give tots the best start in life when it went to Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet meeting for approval.

Councillor Shirley Reynolds (Labour, Wrockwardine Wood & Trench), the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People, Education, Employment & Skills told the meeting on Thursday (April 3) said: “Telford & Wrekin will be the first council in the West Midlands to introduce the 5by5 initiative.”

It aims to give children the ‘best start in life’ by getting them ready to start learning at school.

The need for such a scheme is based on national research that says over a third (36 per cent) of children struggle to play and share with other children, 34 per cent find it difficult to listen and follow instructions and a quarter (25 per cent) continue to require help with toilet training.

The lack of ‘school readiness’ also means that teachers spend more time and resources to improve basic skills.

Conservative group leader Councillor Tim Nelson (Newport North) supported the initiative after reviewing it as a councillor and a parent.

“The initial reaction was to sort of stiffen a little bit and think the council is taking a lot on and running a very fine line between being patronising and condescending.

“Most parents do most things for their children and never think of Telford & Wrekin Council.”

But he said the ‘world has changed’ some children are not “domesticated or civilised – please excuse the words”. Children, he said, needed to be able to turn up at school and sit down for a prolonged period of time.

“And that involves dressing themselves and feeding themselves and how to use the toilet,” he said.

“I am supportive and I hope it works well,” he added.

Council leader Lee Carter (Labour, Arleston & College) said the scheme reflected other priorities, including having a local plan with green spaces that does not leave development in the hands of developers.

Councillor Kelly Middleton (Lab, Woodside) the Cabinet Member for Public Health & Healthier Communities said was “really vital work, I think it is fantastic.”

Councillor Carolyn Healy (Lab, Ironbridge Gorge), the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Planning & Sustainability said: “Those early years are absolutely critical, it has such an impact throughout the lives of everybody.”

She said there is “evidence that there are some children who don’t get all of these experiences” because “life can be very difficult” for parents and these things don’t happen.”

She said it was a list of things that parents and children can do for free and could have a “really positive impact”.

One of the activities listed is for children go skipping over the Iron Bridge. She said she looked forward to seeing more kids doing that.

Deputy leader Councillor Richard Overton (St Georges) spoke of it being a small project that would help in “knocking those bricks out of the wall of inequalities.”

The report said the new initiative, which follows on from a push to get the under 10s to do 10 activities, would not cost the council anything extra as it uses current resources.

The full list of activities listed:

Eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables in different colours

Splash in a swimming pool

Stamp and scrunch the autumn leaves

Grow your own food

Walk/Hop/Skip or run across the Ironbridge

Putting on own shoes and coats

Use a potty or toilet independently

Eat with Utensils

Learn to brush your teeth with supervision

Visit the Town park and use the equipment

Share a book and listen to stories

Go to Bounce and Rhyme and join the library

Learn a nursery rhyme and sing a song

Listen to outdoor sounds

Explore the sounds that musical instruments make

Join my friends in the role play area

Play peek-a-boo

Blow bubbles and catch them

Feed the Ducks

Teddy Bears Picnic

Visit a toddler or community group

Go to Pre-school

Play hide and seek

Play a board game with friends

Go on a treasure hunt with friends

Talk to the baby/toddler in the mirror

Draw a picture of your friends

Play circle games

Build a den

Attend an event in the community

Ride on a bus or train or both

Exploring paint

Play a musical instrument

Get messy with arts and crafts

Build a sandcastle

Lay on the ground and watch the clouds sail by

Dance and sing to music

Take a torch and walk when its dark outside

Blow a dandelion and make a wish

Play with playdough

Count to 5

Draw with a pencil

Look for letters and numbers on signs in the community

Write out a card for family or friends

Choose a recipe and bake it with a grown up

Make a shopping list and go shopping

Go on a bug hunt

Plant a sunflower and see how tall it grows

Make a snowman

Walk in the woods

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One thought on “Council cabinet in agreement over school readiness plan

  • At the risk of sounding negative, do the council members not recognise the early warning signs that a child maybe neurodivergent? and as lovely as the long list of activities are, that most parents do with children anyway, children who are ND will struggle with a lot of those things in the early years naturally.

    Let’s also consider the fact you can’t feed the ducks at Telford town park and where you can you’re told not to use bread, as for libraries, well just ask the people of Dawley about theirs!

    It would be nice to walk round the woods in Telford, if it weren’t for the uncertainty of what and who you might bump into, nothing says nature like the strong scent of
    cannabis.

    Bus routes have been cut over the years, parking isn’t great in Iornbridge.

    I recognise the attempts the council are trying to make and the demographic they’re trying to reach, but those parents are more likely to have struggled themselves at school and failed to have their own needs suffiently identified and met, the environment, but more importantly the type of environment you grow up in will have a huge impact on a developing child, but if SEND children’s needs aren’t identified and supported adequately in the early years then you can blow all the dandilions you want it won’t help.

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