English: As I mentioned earlier, there's strong evidence to underline the relationship between poverty and early language delay, with children from the most disadvantaged groups more likely to have weaker language skills than those in more advantaged groups. And that means that language skills are a critical factor in the intergenerational cycles that can actually perpetuate poverty, as poor communication skills are passed down from parent to child. Indeed, the statistics are quite frightening and, in fact, speak for themselves. Over half of the children in socially deprived areas may start school with impoverished speech, language and communication skills, and by the time that they're three years old, children from the poorest 20 per cent of the population are nearly a year and a half behind a child in the highest income group in terms of language development. Now, let's just think about that: already, by age three, children from the poorest 20 per cent of the population are a year and a half behind. Now, 80 per cent of teachers have reported that they often see children join their schools struggling to speak in full sentences, and I have no doubt that all of us here in this Assembly are united in our ambition to bring children out of poverty and to give them greater life chances, but so far neither the Government nor this Assembly have found a way of properly achieving that ambition. Yet we do know, of course, that vocabulary at age five has been found to be the best predictor of whether children who experience social deprivation in childhood were actually able to buck the trend and escape poverty in later adult life. Compared to children who had normally developing language at five, five-year-olds who have normal non-verbal skills but a poor vocabulary are one and a half times more likely to be poor readers or have mental health problems and more than twice as likely to be unemployed by the time they reach 34 years of age. So, children's poor speech, language and communication skills therefore have a profound impact on a wide range of outcomes, including behaviour, mental health, school readiness and employability. Six out of 10 of the young people in the youth justice estate have communication difficulties, and 88 per cent of long-term unemployed young men have speech, language and communication needs. We also know that, without effective help, a third of children with speech, language and communication difficulties will need treatment for mental health problems in adult life. Now, that's astonishing. All of those statistics tell us the same story. By improving children's verbal skills at five years old, we could be greatly enhancing their life experiences and life chances and further down the line, of course, freeing up our limited resources to tackle other issues in our society. Speech, language and communication needs are particularly prevalent in our most vulnerable children and young people, of course. Many looked-after children have unidentified or unmet communication needs. Indeed, recent analysis found that 81 per cent of children with behavioural problems had undetected speech, language and communication needs, with very little specialist provision in place to identify and support these needs. Given the importance of this issue, it's positive to see an increasing focus on children's speech, language and communication skills within early years policy in Wales. To date, we've seen a speech and language therapist being employed at every Flying Start team in Wales, which is an important step in the right direction. Part of the therapist's role is to both upskill the early years workforce in these areas and, of course, to improve parents' knowledge and skills to support children's early language development. This relatively small investment in terms of the numbers of speech and language therapists employed is having a big impact on the outcomes of young children in Flying Start areas. In 2015, the Bridgend Flying Start speech and language therapists won an NHS award for their work in reducing language delay in two and three-year-olds. They worked with Flying Start nurseries there to significantly reduce the number of children with delayed language skills. Out of 600 children screened on starting nursery, 73 per cent were assessed as having significant language delay, which, as we know, would impact on future learning development. After the interventions delivered by nursery staff, which were planned and supported by the Flying Start speech and language therapists, over two thirds of the children with the worst language delay had improved. That's over 400 children in Bridgend alone who have had their life chances significantly improved thanks to the intervention of the speech and language therapists.
Welsh: Fel y soniais yn gynharach, ceir tystiolaeth gref i danlinellu'r berthynas rhwng tlodi ac oedi o ran sgiliau iaith gynnar, gyda phlant o'r grwpiau mwyaf difreintiedig yn fwy tebygol o feddu ar sgiliau iaith gwannach na phlant mewn grwpiau mwy breintiedig. Ac mae hynny'n golygu bod sgiliau iaith yn ffactor hollbwysig yn y cylchredau sy'n pontio'r cenedlaethau a all barhau tlodi mewn gwirionedd, gan fod sgiliau cyfathrebu gwael yn cael eu trosglwyddo o riant i blentyn. Yn wir, mae'r ystadegau yn eithaf brawychus ac mewn gwirionedd, maent yn siarad drostynt eu hunain. Mae'n bosibl fod dros hanner y plant mewn ardaloedd sy'n gymdeithasol ddifreintiedig yn dechrau'r ysgol gyda sgiliau lleferydd, iaith a chyfathrebu gwael, ac erbyn y byddant yn dair oed, mae plant o 20 y cant tlotaf y boblogaeth yn llusgo bron flwyddyn a hanner ar ôl plentyn yn y grŵp incwm uchaf o ran datblygiad iaith. Nawr, gadewch i ni feddwl am hynny: eisoes, erbyn eu bod yn dair oed, mae plant o 20 y cant tlotaf y boblogaeth flwyddyn a hanner ar ei hôl hi. Nawr, mae 80 y cant o athrawon wedi nodi eu bod yn aml yn gweld plant yn dod i'w hysgolion yn cael trafferth siarad mewn brawddegau llawn, ac nid oes amheuaeth gennyf fod pob un ohonom yma yn y Cynulliad yn unedig yn ein huchelgais i dynnu plant allan o dlodi a rhoi mwy o gyfleoedd bywyd iddynt, ond hyd yma nid yw'r Llywodraeth na'r Cynulliad hwn wedi canfod ffordd o wireddu'r uchelgais hwnnw'n briodol. Ac eto fe wyddom, wrth gwrs, y canfuwyd mai geirfa yn bump oed yw'r rhagfynegydd gorau o'r modd y gallodd plant sy'n wynebu amddifadedd cymdeithasol yn ystod plentyndod fynd yn groes i'r duedd a dianc rhag tlodi yn ddiweddarach mewn bywyd fel oedolion. O gymharu â phlant a oedd â datblygiad iaith normal yn bump oed, mae plant pum mlwydd oed sydd â sgiliau dieiriau normal ond geirfa wael un a hanner gwaith yn fwy tebygol o fod yn ddarllenwyr gwael neu o gael problemau iechyd meddwl a mwy na dwywaith mor debygol o fod yn yn ddi-waith erbyn iddynt gyrraedd 34 oed. Felly, mae sgiliau lleferydd, iaith a chyfathrebu gwael plant yn effeithio'n ddifrifol ar ystod eang o ganlyniadau, gan gynnwys ymddygiad, iechyd meddwl, parodrwydd ysgol a chyflogadwyedd. Mae gan chwech o bob 10 o bobl ifanc yn yr ystâd cyfiawnder ieuenctid anawsterau cyfathrebu, ac mae anghenion lleferydd, iaith a chyfathrebu gan 88 y cant o ddynion ifanc sy'n ddi-waith yn hirdymor. Rydym hefyd yn gwybod, heb gymorth effeithiol, y bydd angen triniaeth ar gyfer problemau iechyd meddwl ar draean o blant ag anawsterau lleferydd, iaith a chyfathrebu pan fyddant yn oedolion. Nawr, mae hynny'n syfrdanol. Mae pob un o'r ystadegau hynny'n dweud yr un stori wrthym. Drwy wella sgiliau llafar plant yn bum mlwydd oed, gallem fod yn gwella eu profiadau bywyd a'u cyfleoedd mewn bywyd yn fawr ac yn nes ymlaen, wrth gwrs, gallem fod yn rhyddhau ein hadnoddau cyfyngedig i fynd i'r afael â phroblemau eraill yn ein cymdeithas. Mae anghenion lleferydd, iaith a chyfathrebu yn arbennig o gyffredin yn ein plant a phobl ifanc mwyaf agored i niwed, wrth gwrs. Mae gan lawer o blant sy'n derbyn gofal anghenion cyfathrebu heb eu nodi neu heb eu diwallu. Yn wir, canfu dadansoddiad diweddar fod gan 81 y cant o blant sydd â phroblemau ymddygiad anghenion lleferydd, iaith a chyfathrebu heb eu canfod, gydag ond ychydig iawn o ddarpariaeth arbenigol ar waith i nodi a chynorthwyo gyda'r anghenion hyn. O ystyried pwysigrwydd y mater, mae'n gadarnhaol gweld pwyslais cynyddol ar sgiliau lleferydd, iaith a chyfathrebu plant yn y polisi blynyddoedd cynnar yng Nghymru. Hyd yma, rydym wedi gweld therapydd lleferydd ac iaith yn cael eu cyflogi ym mhob tîm Dechrau'n Deg yng Nghymru, sy'n gam pwysig i'r cyfeiriad cywir. Rhan o rôl y therapydd yw uwchsgilio gweithlu'r blynyddoedd cynnar yn yr ardaloedd hyn a gwella gwybodaeth a sgiliau rhieni, wrth gwrs, i gefnogi datblygiad iaith gynnar plant. Mae'r buddsoddiad cymharol fach hwn o ran nifer y therapyddion lleferydd ac iaith a gyflogir yn cael effaith fawr ar ganlyniadau plant ifanc mewn ardaloedd Dechrau'n Deg. Yn 2015, enillodd therapyddion iaith a lleferydd Dechrau'n Deg Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr wobr GIG am eu gwaith yn lleihau oedi ieithyddol mewn plant dwy a thair oed. Gweithient gyda chylchoedd meithrin Dechrau'n Deg yno i gyfyngu'n sylweddol ar nifer y plant a ddangosai oedi o ran eu sgiliau iaith. Sgriniwyd 600 o blant wrth iddynt ddechrau yn y cylchoedd meithrin, ac aseswyd bod oedi sylweddol o ran sgiliau iaith 73 y cant ohonynt, a fyddai, fel y gwyddom, yn effeithio ar ddatblygiad dysgu yn y dyfodol. Ar ôl yr ymyriadau a ddarparwyd gan staff meithrin, ymyriadau a gynlluniwyd ac a gefnogwyd gan therapyddion lleferydd ac iaith Dechrau'n Deg, roedd dros ddwy ran o dair o'r plant gyda'r oedi ieithyddol gwaethaf wedi gwella. Dyna dros 400 o blant ym Mhen-y-bont ar Ogwr yn unig sydd wedi cael eu cyfleoedd bywyd wedi'u gwella'n sylweddol diolch i ymyrraeth y therapyddion lleferydd ac iaith.