New research by The Kids Research Institute Australia has found children who attend playgroups achieve better early primary school outcomes.
Researchers, who were commissioned by Playgroup Australia, analysed Australian Early Developmental Census (AEDC) data from both 2012 and 2015 for the study.
They found children who had attended a playgroup performed better on all AEDC child development domains including: Physical, Social, Emotional, Language and Cognitive skills, and Communication. AEDC domains are a key indicator of success in academic achievement in the later school years.
Approximately 65% of children across Australia do not attend playgroups and the report found they were 1.7 times more likely to be developmentally vulnerable on one or more of the AEDC domains during their first year of primary school. These positive effects of playgroup on child development were observed for children from a wide range of backgrounds, suggesting that playgroup is universally beneficial for children.
“This research provides further evidence that children who attend a playgroup experience a range of benefits when they start school, and the research contributes to the growing evidence base about the important role that playgroups play in the mix of early childhood programs and services for Australian children,” report co-author, Dr Tess Gregory, said.
Furthermore, the report explored teacher feedback from 2015 AEDC data about children’s transition into school. Children who did not attend a playgroup prior to commencing school were almost twice as likely to be rated by their teacher as having trouble adjusting to primary school than children who had attended a playgroup.