EAST Hampshire MP Damian Hinds is cementing his role as Secretary of State for Education by fighting the corner of five year olds who arrive at school without the speech skills needed to thrive in the classroom.

He has put two multi-million pound projects in place to help plug the “word gap” by encouraging parents to read to their children.

Recently, Mr Hinds was in the north of England to launch a £5million pilot scheme, to be run by the Education Endowment Foundation, and designed to provide practical tools and advice to parents so they can teach their children vocabulary through reading and nursery rhymes.

The Education Endowment Foundation will look at what works best in improving children’s communication skills at home, before they begin school, and the most effective projects could later be rolled out across the country.

In addition, an £8.5m programme has been made available to local authorities to fund projects to improve early language and literacy development in disadvantaged children.

The move reflects the findings of research by Oxford University Press that half of five year olds in some schools are behind in their language skills and that disadvantaged children are disproportionately affected. A National Literary Trust study has found that one in eight of the most disadvantaged children do not own a single book.

Mr Hinds said a lack of vocabulary can create a “word gap” that sets children behind their peers from day one and could hinder their progress for the rest of their schooling.

In a statement, Mr Hinds said: “This Government wants every child to have the best start in life, which means mastering the basics of speaking, reading and writing at an early age.

“It is important that parents and families can feel confident about supporting their children so they can start school with the appropriate level of language and social skills.

“This new support will help parents with early language learning at home by giving them practical advice on activities like reading and learning the alphabet which are so important in making sure no child is left behind.”

Married to wife Jacqui, a teacher, and like many parents, the couple have enjoyed reading to their three children, and Mr Hinds understands the importance of this shared time.

Passionate about improving social mobility and children’s opportunities to fulfil their potential, he is concerned that, while schools do “a great job” in accelerating development, differences discernible at age five can impact on attainment at ages 16 or 18.

He said: “Through the hard work of teachers and the Government’s reforms, academic standards are rising with 1.9m more children in schools rated “good” or “outstanding” than in 2010, and the attainment gap is narrowing in primary and secondary schools. English children are also rising up the international literacy league tables from an early age, helping to make Britain a country fit for the future.

“Despite this progress, too many children arrive at school struggling with language and social skills, putting them at a disadvantage when they begin their formal education.”