Year 7 pupils, disadvantaged students and those with learning or behaviour special educational needs or disabilities (Send) have been hit hardest by the Covid pandemic, according to a new report from Ofsted published this morning.
The watchdog said its findings from visits to school this term show that repeated lockdowns have particularly affected the newest intake of pupils, who are arriving at school with lower starting points compared with cohorts from previous years.
School leaders told inspectors that these pupils struggle with their behaviour and attitudes to learning and take longer than usual to settle in with school routines, Ofsted said.
The findings are based on evidence collected during routine inspections of 98 primary and secondary schools in England in October and November this year.
Year 7 impacted by ‘unusual’ transition
Ofsted said school leaders reported that their Year 7 pupils struggled with the behaviour expectations of their new school and took longer to settle in because of the “unusual” transition from Year 6. Year 8 pupils were described similarly due to their first year of secondary school being disrupted by the pandemic.
The report shows Year 7 suffered gaps in their learning with reading, maths, writing and science, and, particularly, practical skills and languages.
Behaviour work ‘undone’
Schools reported children struggling with social skills, such as how they related to and collaborated with other pupils. A few schools said that the current Year 7 cohort felt a lot younger than they normally do, including displaying more immature behaviour.
The report says some secondary schools saw a rise in exclusions since fully reopening due to fights and bullying. Staff in one school described how the pandemic had “undone” a lot of the school’s good work on behaviour.
Pupils with Send hardest hit
Schools told Ofsted that disadvantaged pupils and those with Send have been particularly affected by the pandemic. They had concerns about the social and emotional health of pupils with Send. One school described its pupils with Send as “not secondary ready”.
Leaders in some schools mentioned that the pandemic has exacerbated the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.
A few schools said that lockdown had worsened behaviour among these pupils, including more persistent absences and exclusions, and lower engagement with learning.
Lost learning in literacy and maths
Gaps in literacy and language were reported in primary and secondary schools including in phonics, writing, spelling, vocabulary, punctuation and handwriting. One school noted how the knowledge gap of phonics also impacted progress in other subjects.
School leaders said that most pupils had some gaps in maths knowledge. In primary schools, teachers said gaps in key stage 1 pupils’ knowledge include place value, number and symbol recognition, and number bonds.
The report found schools are effectively helping pupils with catch-up learning through informal assessments, one to one support, practical work and recapping the previous year’s curriculum. Some schools have also extended their hours to offer after school, before school, or Saturday sessions for those who needed extra support.
Ofsted also said that low attendance in schools remains a concern due to Covid-19, anxiety around Covid, poor mental health, termtime holidays and children having low resilience.
Some schools also reported they had more Covid-related absences among disadvantaged pupils, those with Send and specific year groups, for example, Year 8, Year 11 and sixth form.
