Children still suffering effects of lockdown

Report reveals that 90pc of primary school teachers say pupils have problems with emotional growth

CHILDREN forced to learn from home during lockdown are still suffering from emotional and social development delays, a major study has found. Pupils continue to struggle as a result of school closures during the pandemic, according to a new report which analyses the responses of over 6,000 state school head teachers and teachers in England.

The work was commissioned by Save the Children, Just for Kids Law and the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, and will be submitted as evidence to the Covid Inquiry.

It found over nine in 10 primary school teachers said their pupils experience emotional and social growth delays as a result of prolonged periods of school closures during lockdown. Meanwhile, 85 per cent said that since the pandemic, children have struggled with behavioural issues and 78 per cent said their pupils suffer from mental health issues.

Among secondary school teachers, the biggest problem noted was absenteeism, with 87 per cent saying that children had been skipping school since the pandemic.

Next week marks four years since the first lockdown, which saw schools across the country close and people told ‘Four years ago, when children were sent home from school, the warning signs were all there’

to stay at home. Anne Longfield, the former children’s commissioner, said the report’s contents were “horrific”, adding: “This reflects what teachers tell me, week in week out, that at every stage of school there are children still deeply impacted by lockdown and Covid.

“Four years ago when children were sent home from school, the warning signs were all there. My fear was that we would look back in four or five years time and see a generation of children with an impact that could affect them throughout their life. Sadly we are seeing our greatest fears now.”

The survey, conducted by Teacher Tapp, found that teachers in more deprived schools – defined by the proportion of students eligible to receive free school meals – were more likely to report disadvantaged children falling behind their wealthier peers, and to a greater extent.

Four in five teachers said they have seen disadvantaged pupils fall behind their peers following lockdown, and 95 per cent believe the Government’s £5billion Covid catch-up fund has not gone far enough to repair the damage.

The Children’s Rights Alliance for England and Save the Children UK are calling for an increase in cash for the Government’s catch-up programme, as they say the current levels of funding do not go far enough.