The latest report into the performance of Bradford's primary schools is worrying.

In 2001 Education Bradford took control of a failing schools system. Halfway through the ten-year contract secondary education has been noticeably improved, with the best-ever GCSE results being recorded last month. For the early years of schooling, though, it is a rather different story.

It is hardly surprising that Councillor Philip Thornton, chairman of the Young People and Education Improvement Committee, is disappointed. With scores falling across the board at foundation and key stage one and two levels, it is clear that the pupils moving on to secondary schools, and their teachers, will face a challenge to build on the improvements already made in that sector.

As Councillor Thornton says, Education Bradford's action plan to boost early-years education needs to be carefully scrutinised by councillors at their meeting next Wednesday to see if proposed measures to narrow the gap can be speeded up.

However, not all the responsibility for the poor showing in these years should be placed on Education Bradford. Councillor Thornton says that young people are coming into school "with tremendous difficulties which need to be bottomed before they can embark on their educational development". Presumably what he means is that too many children are still beginning their school career with a poor grasp of English, and in some cases with no English at all.

Their families need to take more seriously their responsibility to help their children to learn to speak, as early as possible, the language in which they will be taught when they go to school.