Keeping children safe and happy is priority as Ofsted reveals lockdown is a barrier to pupil progress

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson was widely expected to confirm this week that there will be no return to the classroom after the February half-term break as ministers had hoped - and that it could be Easter.

However, earlier today (Monday) Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested he is examining whether some lockdown measures could be lifted once the highest priority groups have been vaccinated as he came under pressure to reopen England's schools.

It places more pressure on teachers to adapt to changing guidance as new reports by Ofsted highlight that the disruption to schools is now being seen in the progress of pupils.

The education examining body is undertaking remote visits to 1200 schools across the UK in cities, rural or coastal communities and which have a range of Ofsted grades.

The visits have been deemed a fact-finding exercise to see what issues schools are seeing as a result of remote and reduced learning and to help shape future policy.

She said: “While remote education will help to mitigate the learning lost when children are out of the classroom, it’s clear that pupils’ motivation and engagement remains an issue. This, along with the pressure remote learning places on teachers and parents, is proving a real barrier to children’s learning and development.”

Rosebank Primary on Burley Road is a ‘Good’ rated school with 333 children on its role. Headteacher Alice Smith said the emphasis at her school was to make sure that everyone from staff, to pupils and parents are happy, safe and well.

The catching up on education and targets can come later.

She said: “My staff have worked incredibly hard and just got on with it because we love the community we work in and want the best for children and families. We are going for it and making the most of it to make sure children are supported.

“Teacher and leaders are constantly thinking and coming up with new ideas to try and get what is right for the children.

“Making sure everyone is safe and happy is most important to us. That has always been our belief. We have four, healthy mind, healthy body, be resilient, be respectful. That is core in everything we do. If you are resilient and healthy, you will do well.

“Schools are very good at catching up and making progress so I feel we will do that as and when we open, and we will catch up and make progress. Making sure everyone is happy, safe and well should be high priority.”

Rosebank, like many other schools in Leeds reported that since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 and under the restrictions that have followed, pupil bubbles have had to isolate at home, there are gaps in phonic knowledge and this year’s curriculum is not being followed as planned to allow for catching up on what was missed while schools were locked down last year.

St Peter’s C of E at Burmantofts had reported, when it was contacted by Ofsted in December, that more than three quarters of pupils had had to self isolate at least once and this week the school announced that it was closed to all children until February following a number of positive COVID cases.

It too had reported back to Ofsted that there were gaps in maths, reading and writing and teaching of art and music was more difficult than in a normal setting.

At Mount St Mary’s, a high school in LS9, years 7 to 9 were re-visiting missed learning alongside the planned curriculum for this term.

Shakespeare Primary School has found pupils are less secure in speech and language skills, there are gaps in maths and number work, additional challenges around social and emotional well-being of pupils and that physical fitness of children had suffered.

However, one of the ideas it had to address this was a virtual cricket competition that was shared with other schools, a move approved by Ms Speilman.

She added: “Despite the challenges, I am impressed by the flexibility and innovation shown by teachers and leaders involved in our research. I hope these insights will be valuable to schools that are still developing their own remote education offer.”

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