There has been a growing concern amongst parents and primary school teachers that young children are not speaking properly.

The importance for children to learn English elocution does not only relate to articulating well with clarity and intelligibility. The relationship between hearing the sound blocks which make English words and reproducing those sound blocks into spoken English cannot be emphasised enough. Indeed, if a child cannot hear, identify and distinguish the phonetics of a word or its syllables, then it is understandable that there will be difficulties in reading, writing and spelling. Further, the child may also lose confidence in communication and self-esteem.

If the area of weakness is not strengthened, this may lead in later years to the pupil encountering difficulties in one of the most important examinations, namely GCSE English which also tests the ability of the student in speaking and listening.

Therefore, elocution is not about speaking posh. Elocution is the nucleus upon which other important areas of learning and development are built which feature strongly throughout the educational years of the child and the career path of the adult.

If your child is struggling to be understood, then now is the time to act!