Agenda item

During the national lockdown that was in place over the spring and summer terms 2020, all BCP schools remained open but were only able to offer places to children from vulnerable groups and key worker children.

The impact of the lockdown on children and families, and their readiness to resume full time education in September 2020 was unknown.  However, it was clear that some would require additional support to enable them to successfully transition back into school and a more ‘normal’ routine.

The Council worked with schools and partner organisations to prepare materials that would support professionals and families with this to address these concerns.  Two survey were also carried out to better understand the impact of the lockdown and what further support was needed.

The Director of Quality and Commissioning for BCP Council presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book. The report related to the first national lockdown, during the Spring and Summer months of 2020.

The report detailed the work that the Council had undertaken to support professionals and families with the September 2020 return to school, after the first national lockdown. The Director of Quality and Commissioning gave an overview of this work and provided further information on the Staying Connected surveys and the materials that were produced to support the return to school. The key points of the presentation were:

•       The Local Authority had produced materials for parents and educational professionals detailing the support that would be provided in the return to schools in September 2020.

•       Two surveys were undertaken relating to children with SEND.

•       Feedback from the surveys highlighted anxiety, isolation and lack of structure as the main impact on wellbeing.

•       Work was undertaken between the Local Authority and local schools to best meet the needs of children not attending school to continue with the education offer delivered at home.

•       The remote learning offer had developed over the course of the lockdown; however, the Local Authority must be aware of the impact of lockdown on children and the effects of not being in school.

•       It was hoped that children would be able to transition back to school successfully and pick back up on the experiences and socialisation they had missed.

Members of the Youth Parliament that were present provided some further information to the Committee. The Committee heard that the Youth Parliament had:

•       Conducted research into children’s responses to lockdown. These included the use of questionnaires and social media polls.

•       Overall, the prominent feelings of children were that of anxiety, stress and uncertainty.

•       Many changes had taken place since the initial return to schools in September 2020 and with the situation changing rapidly, more needs to be done to assess the feelings of children affected.

•       More than half the children surveyed said that they felt the remote education was unsatisfactory and that the loss of the classroom environment was the biggest negative impact.

•       Extra-curricular classes and activities were a big part of children’s lives prior to the pandemic and these opportunities had stopped for almost a year.

The Committee discussed the Report. Comments, questions and answers heard included:

•       How was wellbeing of children being monitored and was best practice advice being shared? The Committee heard that monitoring of the educational offer was a prime part of the monitoring process. This offer had developed over time alongside the monitoring of schools and quality assurance. For mental health, vulnerable children are tracked individually, and work is done with schools to ensure these children receive the necessary support. This is a large number of children and it therefore required a partnership between the school and Children’s Services to identify all of the children in need of help. The rapid nature of changes to education and school closures made it difficult to assess and analyse the effects of lockdown on children, as was seen with the one day before nationwide school closures in January 2021.

•       What consideration was given to children with protected characteristics and their support needs? The Committee were informed that there is always consideration given to children with protected characteristics and assistance has been requested for the health service for reassurance on the challenges faced by those of a protected group when it came to COVID-19. It was acknowledged by the Committee that throughout the pandemic, members of protected groups had faced increased challenges due to the pandemic and that this was no less the case when it came to supporting children who were out of school and in lockdown.

•       When it came to mental health support it was acknowledged that any child could face difficulties and that support must be provided for all who require it.

•       The informative materials supplied to parents and education professionals detailing support that was in place for children was deemed useful and officers were confident it was made available for the target audience. A request was made by a member of the Youth Parliament for a similar resource to be made for children. The Committee heard that this was a helpful suggestion and could be explored.

•       What proportion of parents and relevant carers responded to the Staying Connected surveys? The Director of Quality and Commissioning explained that the number of children with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) across the conurbation was 4000 and that 78 parent/carers had responded. The limited time frame meant that information had to be gathered swiftly and immediately used to for overview of the situation. The Local Authority publicised the survey through the parent-carer forum and made available through schools. It was heard that this matter was a useful exercise in getting a feel for parent experience and that it should be revisited now that term was underway. The survey gave a short sharp insight into the community and the information was triangulated with feedback from schools and partners.

•       Had sufficient technology and equipment been supplied to those families that needed it? The Committee were told that before Christmas, during the Autumn term, the Government scheme to provide laptops to vulnerable children had seen the Local Authority acquire and distribute 1200 laptops alongside the work of the Virtual School put in place to assist children. It was explained that, with the move to a comprehensive remote offer, the Government scheme sought to support children where there was an outbreak or a high need for such equipment. A member of the Youth Parliament informed the Committee that they were aware of potential issues with broadband and the impact that this would have on learners. The Committee were told that it was vitally important that schools provide access to lessons and learning resources at both the point of delivery and afterwards. This was in case there were any issues with a learner’s internet access where they needed to revisit the lesson or learning materials at a later time. Members heard that during the first lockdown, the Government had run a scheme to issue 4G dongles to learners to help provide internet access through mobile phone network. After Christmas, the Government have sought to provide discounted access to a 4G or 3G network via mobile phones.

•       What support was being given to teachers regarding their wellbeing? The Director of Quality and Commissioning explained that teachers were having to provide in-classroom teaching as well as remote learning for those pupils learning from home. The Portfolio Holder for COVID Resilience, Public Health and Education added that lot of new skills and expectations were being placed on teachers and their mental health must be recognised and supported going forward. Teachers also suffered from the lack of interaction and classroom experience. The Portfolio Holder agreed that involvement from the Youth Parliament would be beneficial and that there would be a £1million investment in the Council’s budget toward support young people, their wellbeing and their transition back to school. Some Winter grant fund money from Government would be targeted at helping holiday activities and support clubs. The Portfolio Holder gave a commitment on supporting Young People on these issues and during this time

The Chairman provided a summary of the discussion that had taken place and emphasised the key points were as follows:

•                Online Learning and consistency of provision.

•                Sharing of best practice.

•                Learners with protected characteristics.

•                Response levels to survey.

•                Young people’s interest in being surveyed.

•                Technical equipment for remote learners

•                Funding available for remote learners.

Resolved that the Committee

(a)  note the materials that were produced to support professionals and families with the transition of local authority pupils back into school following lockdown and

(b) note the outcomes of the surveys that were undertaken in relation to this work.