ASCL comment on EEF report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on younger pupils’ reading and maths skills

Responding to the Education Endowment Foundation’s report on the impact of the pandemic on young pupils, Tiffnie Harris, Primary and Data Specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The findings of this report reflect the severe impact that the pandemic has had on many young children during a crucial stage of both their learning and emotional development. Reduced time in class has been particularly damaging to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, with parents having fewer resources and less time to support them.

“Teachers are putting a huge amount of work into helping pupils catch up on learning but, as the report recognises, face a number of challenges. Primary school budgets will continue to be stretched, even after the extra money announced in the Autumn Statement. In an ideal world schools would be able to put in place more individualised and specialist support but that is very difficult to do on existing budgets and staffing levels. The National Tutoring Programme is also difficult to access financially because of the need for schools to top-up the money with 40% from their own budgets.

“Additional resources must be made available to help teachers and leaders support recovery strategies.”