Jessie Ware, School readiness, Katriona O'Sullivan, Autism support

Jessie Ware, School readiness, Katriona O'Sullivan, Autism support

From Woman's Hour by BBC Radio 4

April 16, 2026 · 55 min

About this episode

The episode discusses primary school readiness, features Jessie Ware discussing her new album, and explores autism support services.

Today is primary school offer day in England and Wales, when parents will be finding out where their children might be starting school in September. A new government-backed campaign has been launched to help parents and carers as figures show that over a third of children are currently starting reception without the basic skills they need for the classroom. Datshiane Navanayagam is joined by BBC Education reporter Kate McGough and Felicity Gillespie from children’s charity Kindred Squared, to talk about what parents and carers need to know. The singer-songwriter Jessie Ware's new album, Superbloom, was released this week. As well as being known for her music, Jessie's family’s passion for food led to the weekly podcast Table Manners, that she co-hosts with her mother Lennie, featuring celebrity guests like Ed Sheeran and Kylie. Jessie joins Datshiane to talk about her new album inspired by disco and funk and how she became more confident in her 40s. Autism Central is an online support service for the parents and carers of autistic people. Set up by NHS England in 2021, it has now been expanded to offer help for everyone in the support network of autistic people, including…

People in this episode

Guests: Jessie Ware, Kate McGough, Felicity Gillespie, Victoria Jackson

Topics covered

  • school readiness
  • music
  • autism support

Keywords

  • education
  • NHS
  • children
  • charity
  • music

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Superbloom

Books & works: Superbloom, Poor, Hungry

Places: England, Wales

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