School Readiness in Driffield

Healthwatch East Riding of Yorkshire undertook research on school readiness after hearing about concerns at Driffield Integrated Neighbours Teams meetings.  They created a survey for families and spoke to 142 people.

Many believe there is a lack of available and affordable activities and opportunities. This may reduce some pre-school aged children’s opportunities compared to others. 

Family dynamics can impact consistency with multiple adults and/or generations with different views and expectations surrounding how children should be raised. Additionally, single adult households expressed challenges around the weight of responsibility in being the sole adult. 

The majority had awareness of age-related milestones, however, this largely stemmed from working with children implying this may not be common knowledge. Missed opportunities arise when families learn about milestones from schools/teachers and not before school age. 

Driffield is seen to have positive attributes. Safety, public spaces and community atmosphere are highly valued. Families struggle with limited and affordable activities and opportunities for children locally. 

Most typically rely on family and schools/teachers for support and advice regarding their children. Observations highlighted inconsistencies between children who were given the freedom to navigate a task, form their own decision and respond compared to those who were heavily guided throughout.

Tabletop questions identified that majority of children helped with household jobs either on a regular or ad-hoc basis. Tasks carried were typically involved maintaining a level of tidiness for their own space. Some were involved in supporting younger siblings.