Part of the primary school teaching job could soon be providing formal education to even younger children. 

This is because the head of Ofsted believes too many British nurseries are not ensuring toddlers are ready to learn when they get to primary school.

Sir Michael Wilshaw said the problem, which is most prominent in England's poorest children, could be solved by a greater emphasis on structured learning within school-based nurseries.

The views of the Ofsted chief inspector echo the government's view of how to improve early-years provision - an issue that has caused much discussion since it was revealed that only a third of poorer youngsters reach a good level of development in pre-schools.

Children's minister Liz Truss has explained on numerous occasions that she thinks teachers will need to get involved to improve the situation, pointing to other European countries such as France, where nursery children take part in many teacher-led activities.

Speaking after launching Ofsted's first stand-alone report on early-years education, Sir Michael told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "More than two-thirds of our poorest children - and in some of our poorest communities that goes up to eight children out of ten - go to school unprepared.

"That means they can't hold a pen, they have poor language and communication skills, they don't recognise simple numbers, they can't use the toilet independently and so on."

Sir Michael explained the pupils who fall behind in the early stages of the schools system often struggle to catch up in later life.

National Day Nurseries Association head Purnima Tanuku responded to the claims by stating that Ofsted's own report suggests over 80 per cent of private and voluntary day nurseries are actually delivering good or outstanding quality and Sir Michael was "condemning the sector" based on a very small minority.

As a primary school teacher, do you feel that more needs to be done to prepare toddlers for school?