Nursery World - Low attainment linked with poor motor skills

There is mounting evidence of a correlation between young
children's balance and co-ordination and how well they do at school.

Findings from research that will be presented at a conference in London this week show that seven-year-olds with immature motor skills tend to be performing in the lowest quartile on measures of educational performance.

However, the studies from primary schools in London and the Midlands demonstrate that introducing a developmental moving programme for just 15 minutes during the school day has seen attainment levels rise.

The findings will be presented by head teacher Sue Harte from John Stainer Community School in south London (see box).

Creator of the screening test and movement programme and international director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology (INPP) Sally Goddard Blythe told Nursery World that 'children were slipping through the net' because of a failure to spot neuro-motor immaturity.

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