Schools are facing “significant challenges” in dealing with the impact of the pandemic on children currently in primary school, Ofsted has suggested.

The report, which looks at Reception and Key Stage 1 provision in England, said children are starting primary school with delays in language and communication, “poor self-help skills” and emotional difficulties.

The Covid-19 pandemic is having an impact on children’s behaviour and social skills, the watchdog’s research said.

The report – which draws on findings from 20 visits to schools – said support for disadvantaged children and those with special education needs and disabilities (Send) has become “even more important” in the first years of primary school since the Covid-19 pandemic.

One school, visited by Ofsted as part of the research, has adapted its curriculum to emphasise language development in response to an increasing number of children starting school with speech and language difficulties.

As part of the revised curriculum, staff made sure that every child took part in conversations with adults every day and children were given more opportunities to sing nursery rhymes.

But the report concluded: “While schools talk confidently about children’s difficulties on entry, adjustments to the curriculum to take account of these difficulties are not always considered.”

It added: “Sometimes we see adults giving more attention to the confident and articulate children. This promotes their intellectual and social development at the expense of the minority who need the most support.”

The research has also suggested that schools introduce complex reading and writing tasks “too early” and they do not give children enough teaching and practice for them to become fluent in foundational knowledge and skills, such as composing simple sentences and holding a pencil correctly.

Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said: “A child’s first few years at school are vitally important to their future learning and development.

“We know that by providing children with an excellent early education, we can set them up with the tools they need to flourish throughout the later stage of their education.

“It’s encouraging that there has been some good progress in improving the teaching of early reading and mathematics in primary schools.

“But schools are still having to navigate the impact of the pandemic, and many children are still catching up on lost learning.

“It is those children who are most vulnerable who benefit most from a strong start to their education.”

James Bowen, assistant general secretary at school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Ofsted is right to highlight that primary schools are still feeling the effects of the pandemic.

“It’s important to remember that many children currently in Key Stage 1 will have missed out on important pre-school experiences due to Covid and will have experienced major disruption to their early education.

“While curriculum choices made by teachers are obviously important, this is only one part of a much bigger picture.

“The previous government’s failure to invest properly in Covid recovery and the decimation of crucial early support services has meant that young children who need extra support often struggle to access it.

“If we are to ensure that every child is able to thrive at the start of primary school, then it’s vital that they receive the specialist support they need as early as possible.”

Tom Middlehurst, curriculum, assessment and inspection specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “As this report rightly recognises, schools are still navigating the impact of the pandemic and the resulting developmental delays they are seeing in some children.

“There has been a lack of sufficient investment to help schools manage this situation and many primary schools operate with severely constrained resources. It is challenging to tailor learning around individuals when you do not have enough funding, staff or specialist support.”

He added: “We are concerned about the increasing role Ofsted appears to be playing in influencing, as opposed to merely inspecting, what schools are doing.”