Children 'shouldn't start school until they are seven'

Forcing children to enter school when they are just five harms their development, according to Deborah Lawson, former chairman of the Professional Association of Teachers.

Ms Lawson is urging the Government to give children more time and greater opportunities to play - particularly outdoors - otherwise they cannot learn vital social and "creative" skills.

"Many children are ferried everywhere by their parents or carers. They are not given the opportunity to play in open spaces or out in the street and, as such, they are not developing the life skills that they need," she warned.

Ms Lawson warned the current "tick box" emphasis on academic achievement made everybody over-anxious - including many parents, who felt they should be pushing children before they were ready.

"Some parents like the worksheets because it is solid evidence that their child is progressing. They really want to see it - sometimes parents say 'Little Johnny is bringing back flash cards and my Billy isn't' - when actually Billy isn't quite ready for it."

Ms Lawson's call, at the PAT's annual conference in Harrogate, comes after Children, Schools and Families Secretary Ed Balls acknowledged that children should not be "wrapped in cotton wool" and instead should spend more time outdoors.

Ms Lawson said the Government had recognised the value of "learning through play" in the national curriculum up to five years old.

But she urged ministers to follow the example set by Scandinavian and central European countries, where children do not start formal education until they are seven.

Here, under the Early Years Foundation Stage, as it is called, nursery nurses and teachers are required to give babies marks for crying, gurgling and babbling.

In total, nursery nurses and teachers have to observe and record infants' progress towards 69 targets - or risk losing government funding.

Teaching children to read should start at three, while handwriting lessons should begin at 16 to 26 months. Basic maths should be taught from age two, learning to count through songs and games.