Hundreds of children in Lewisham could be starting school this month without basic skills such as being able to hold a pencil or go to the toilet by themselves.

The latest Public Health England (PHE) statistics show 79 per cent of children in Lewisham were at a good level in the 2016-17 academic year, the latest year for which data is available – although this is above London and England averages.

PHE measures a child’s ‘school readiness’ according to whether they have reached a good level of development at the end of reception, before entering their first compulsory year of education at age five.

This means around 800 children – more than one in five – may not have been ready for school by the time they entered Year 1, lacking basic skills such as being able to hold a pencil, kick a ball or go to the toilet by themselves.

However, this is above the national average of 71 per cent.

Poorer children are less likely to hit the benchmarks, with 71 per cent of children on free school meals reaching a good level of development in Lewisham.

A Lewisham Council spokesperson said the figures show the borough is ahead of London and England averages, and was pleased with the results.

“The DfE figures show that Lewisham’s youngest pupils – including those on free school meals – are getting a great start to their education. The average percentage of pupils achieving the expected standard across all early learning goals is significantly above both the London and England average and the data shows that this has been the case every year since 2013,” they explained.

“The borough has also been in the top five best performing local authorities in England for the past five years.

“This reflects the hard work and dedication of teachers and school staff to support early learners to achieve good educational outcomes and increase the number that do every year,” the added.

A mother whose daughter did not meet ‘school readiness’ benchmarks said it was difficult to work with education services in the borough.

The mother, who did not want to be named, said her daughter had speech issues which were impacting her learning but was told there were long waiting lists for additional help.

“From a personal point of view I feel like the support isn’t available to parents to be able to help their child at home to support the learning in school,” she explained.

“I was asking for the name of books they were looking at and the topics being covered and wasn’t given the information.

“The children that were in extreme need of help and support got it, the ones in the middle that just need that little extra didn’t get it,” she added.