Fahad talks to his class-mates about geography

As BBC News Online reported last week, schools are being sent guidance on how to help children get better communication skills.

This is something many schools have been doing for some time.

For example, Hallfield Junior School in West London has been running something it calls News Day for a year now.

Teacher Misty Walters says the children are enthusiastic: "Each day six children bring in something they want to talk about for 'show and tell'.

"The other children learn to be active listeners."

Pupil Fahad says he enjoys talking to other children.

He brought a globe into school to talk about.

It's no good working on communication skills between 0900 and 1600, if children go home and don't communicate at all David Hart, NAHT

"I would like to ask people which country they come from.

"I can point to it on the globe."

Fahad's class teacher has another strategy to help children to express themselves.

Each week a different child gets to take a toy dog home and when the child returns, they tell a story about the toy.

It has been claimed that children spend so much time watching TV and playing on computers that they do not get enough experience of talking to people.

Head teachers have claimed that the behavioural and verbal skills of children starting school were at an all-time low, with some five-year-olds unable to speak properly.

Teacher Misty Walters disagrees.

"A lot of children do enjoy spending time on the computer but they also enjoy the speaking and listening."

Misty Walters: "Children enjoy talking and listening".

She says the ability to express yourself in speech is crucial to learning.

"Before they can begin to write sentences it's important that they develop their oral communication skills as well."

Head teachers agree communciation skills are vital to children - but they say schools' efforts must be matched by those of parents.

David Hart, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers says most schools already work hard to boost children's communication skills.

"There's no way any school could achieve good results unless they concentrated on issues such as good communication skills.

"It's blindingly obvious that children should have good communication skills, otherwise they will fall behind at secondary school and then be disadvantaged in the job market.