- Repeated isolation has chipped away at progress pupils have
made since returning to school in September
- Effectiveness of remote education offered is varied and
difficult to determine
- Children arriving at secure children’s homes in effect put in
solitary confinement
- Many children with special education needs and disabilities
not attending school, struggling with remote learning and at risk
of abuse or neglect
- Even more schools report at least one child now home
schooled, with parents saying their children will not return to
school ‘until pandemic is over’
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector today praised education and social
care staff for their hard work and resilience against all the
odds, as Ofsted published the third and final set of reports
looking at the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and
young people.
Amanda Spielman said: “Faced with all of these pressures, the
education and social care sectors are showing considerable
resilience and creativity to provide children and learners with
the best experience they can … And all of this is being done
against the most challenging backdrop for staff in recent times.
I would like to record my appreciation for everyone working in
education and social care – from childminders and social workers
to teachers and college tutors.”
Ofsted inspectors have carried out nearly 2,000 visits to
education and social care providers during the autumn term.
Today’s reports reflect on the experiences of leaders working in
schools, further education and skills, early years, social care
and Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND).
Inspectors heard that repeated absences due to COVID-19 outbreaks
have resulted in pupils losing more learning. Many children are
thought to be at least six months behind where they should be.
And for a significant number of pupils, repeated periods of
self-isolation have chipped away at the progress they have been
able to make since September.
The reports find that in just over half of the schools visited,
pupils in bubbles were sent home to self-isolate at some point
during the term, with more children sent home in bubbles from
secondary schools than primaries. Some schools were extensively
affected by COVID-19-related absence. And a few school leaders
said that a significant proportion of their pupils had to
self-isolate on two or three separate occasions.
Inspectors found schools were having to provide meaningful remote
education under two distinct circumstances - bubble isolation and
individual isolation. Many schools were making real progress with
remote provision for bubbles, which often included live or
pre-recorded online lessons. However, pupils who were
self-isolating individually for a fortnight at a time often had a
poorer experience. Whole bubbles can more easily be kept up to
speed with the planned curriculum while they work from home, but
isolating individuals often miss out on the new content being
taught to peers in class, instead doing revision at home. For
these children, the loss of learning they experienced in the
summer is being repeated.
Commenting on remote education, the Chief Inspector said: “While
remote education is better than nothing, it’s no substitute for
the classroom … Schools are struggling to assess whether remote
learning is effective or not. For many, the measure of success is
whether or not children are engaging with the work at all, rather
than whether they are developing their knowledge and
understanding – a case of remote attendance, rather than remote
learning.”
In children’s social care, the need to self-quarantine had a more
detrimental impact. When children arrive at secure children’s
homes, they are required to self-isolate for 14 days, which in
effect creates a form of solitary confinement. This had a
negative impact on many children’s well-being. In some cases it
also undermined the child’s safety, and that of others in the
home, where the child’s anxieties resulted in self-harm or
physical attacks on staff.
Elsewhere, inspectors found that children with SEND often
struggled with the restrictions placed upon them, with many not
attending school full-time. Remote education was a challenge for
some of these children, particularly if their parents were unable
to support them. And when vulnerable children are not at school
and are out of sight, they may be at risk of abuse or neglect.
Inspectors also found that the number of children being home
schooled has risen again. Almost three-fifths of schools told
inspectors they had at least one pupil whose parents had removed
them from school to be home educated since the start of the
autumn term. School leaders said that some parents have told them
that they only want to home educate temporarily and that their
children would return once ‘the pandemic is over’. This suggests
there will be a significant number of children returning to
school after a very long gap, expecting to catch up.
Closing her commentary, Ms Spielman said: “There is real optimism
that the end is finally in sight for the sort of restrictions
that we currently live under, but it’s clear that there is a long
way to go before education and social care returns to normal. For
many children, there is more to be done: to catch them up, to
level the playing field and to prepare them well for the next
stage in their lives.”
