We need a national mission to save our children

Extend the school day and boost recruitment of excellent teachers to fix the damage of closures

Covid-19 and school closures have laid bare the damning truth about our educational divide. It has exposed how many children lack basic digital access. But it has also exposed far, far more. All the laptops in the world will only work if children use them. And, as they spent more time cocooned at home, other ills have been highlighted that have damaged their learning, computer or no computer.

Plenty did their best to study in unsuitable work environments, sharing the dinner table with family. Others grappled with their mental well-being. According to the NHS, one in six children aged five to 16 had a probable mental disorder as of July 2020. In 2017, that figure was one in nine. In the worst cases, children spent their time in conditions no child should ever endure – physical danger and emotional distress. Some have discarded their learning altogether.

Generation Covid now faces a torrid barrage of lost learning and a new frontier of vulnerabilities. As schools (hopefully) return on March 8, the Prime Minister should pop down to Halfords and buy the best sat nav that money can buy. Teachers, support staff, parents and our younger generation need a direction of travel – an education A to Z out of coronavirus. We need to remedy the damage of lockdown but also to set in train a nationwide debate as to how to reform education for the long term.

First, reducing the attainment gap. Upon their return to school, every pupil must be assessed as to the extent of lost learning and how much catch-up is needed. Ministers should extend small group tutoring, if that’s what it takes. But catch-up is not just about algebra and Shakespeare. One in three primary school pupils is now overweight or obese. Children’s mental health has become dangerously fragile.

Extending the school day – not by putting an extra burden on teachers, but inviting in civil society – to encompass physical activity, mental health support, as well as academic support – would support their broader recovery. In 2017, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport found that under-achieving young people who participated in extracurricular sports increased their numeracy skills by 29 per cent above those who did not. Those children engaged in school sports clubs are 20 per cent less likely to suffer from mental health disorders.

Second, adequate funding. The £1.3 billion catch-up fund will help. But why not make more of the £2.5 billion pupil premium? The current formula is too clunky. Schools get funding for any pupil who has been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years. Instead, refocus the premium so it is more heavily weighted towards the long-term disadvantaged.

Third, rocket-boosting teacher recruitment. We know that the best schools have outstanding teachers, but in disadvantaged areas, teacher recruitment is low. One in three new teachers leave the profession after five years. Instead of spending £96 million on education “Opportunity Areas” (with arguable outcomes), this money could be used to boost teaching quality in disadvantaged areas, achieved by incentivising highly commended initial teacher training providers to work with disadvantaged schools. Give bursaries, retention payments and salary bonuses to good teachers in challenging areas to avoid flight of local talent.

Finally, early intervention. Forty per cent of the disadvantage gap at age 16 has already emerged by the time children start primary school. The introduction of family hubs across every town would provide cradle-tocareer support for the whole family. In my own constituency of Harlow, Virgin Care’s family hub offers traditional early years help, alongside new parent services; “school ready” support; occupational therapy; mental health counselling; and training programmes. Nearly 93 per cent of parents felt their parenting abilities and behaviours improved after accessing its services.

Some hubs are linked to schools with remarkable results. Like Reach Academy Feltham, where almost half of children are eligible for the pupil premium – and yet in 2019, 66.1 per cent of pupils achieved a Grade 5 or above in English and maths (the national average was 43.2 per cent). The Government has championed family hubs. But it has set aside £2.5 million for further research. Why not just make it happen?

Social justice, skills, standards and support for the teaching profession should be the guiding principles. We need less of a “computer says no” attitude from some of the usual suspects and more of a coalition of the willing to get all our children learning again.