Most disadvantaged pupils ‘could never return to school after crisis’
HEADTEACHERS FEAR the most disadvantaged pupils may never return to school after the coronavirus crisis, the Children’s Commissioner for England has warned.
Speaking to the Commons Education Select Committee, Anne Longfield said shops re-opening and a spell of good weather could distract children from doing their school work at home.
And the number of children failing to reach their potential amid lengthy school closures will be “immense”.
Ms Longfield, who is from Otley in West Yorkshire, said there needed to be “greater consistency and guidance” from the Government on home schooling.
She added: “If we stick to the numbers of classes that are going back right now, that could be eight million children that have been out of school for six months by September.
“We looked at figures of kids not going online, that was before their parents went back to work, and before the sun came out for any length of time, and frankly before other things became more interesting.
“The shops will be open soon and kids could have spent twoand-a-half months browsing Primark, but not been in school, so the other things that will actually be distractions will become more and more.”
Some young people had not had a phone call with teachers at all, with some schools dropping off learning packs while other children “won’t have had very much, if anything, at all”. She said surveys found two-thirds of children were going online for school work for less than two hours a day, which rose to 90 per cent for disadvantaged groups.
The committee heard that disadvantaged pupils were facing problems with access to technology, availability of resources at home and parents’ ability to support their children with education.
She advocated summer schools to help disadvantaged children, with a focus on mental and emotional wellbeing also. Concerns were also raised about teacher bias when it came to giving pupils exam grades based on predicted results, particularly in the case of black students.