{"id":24089,"date":"2025-03-16T23:03:02","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T00:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=24089"},"modified":"2025-03-17T08:28:08","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T08:28:08","slug":"poorest-children-missing-more-school-and-further-behind-after-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=24089","title":{"rendered":"Poorest children missing more school and further behind after Covid"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-component=\"byline-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new\" class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-0 haItSe\">\n<div class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-1 cjDa-dM\">8 hours ago<\/p>\n<p><!--$!--><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 oYtVL dRvUPz dXDmtS\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 iQJDhl cCYQUA kItbpD\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Save<\/span><\/button><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new-contributors\" class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-12 fcCDwR\">\n<div class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-5 evAEAB\">\n<div><span class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-7 kItaYD\">Branwen Jeffreys<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Education editor<!-- --><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--$!--><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 oYtVL dRvUPz dXDmtS\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 iQJDhl cCYQUA kItbpD\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Save<\/span><\/button><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 EXUng\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-a34861b-1 jxzoZC\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ae9dbf90-0184-11f0-b50e-9d086302645f.jpg.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Getty Images A young girl, with blue ribbons tied in her hair and wearing a blue shoulder bag, walks down the street holding the hand of a man. A blue car is in the background\" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 efFcac\" \/><span class=\"sc-a34861b-2 hesJxn\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The poorest children are missing more school and falling further behind classmates, research shared with the BBC suggests.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">According to new analysis by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) &#8211; which looked at pupil performance after the Covid-19 pandemic &#8211; children from the lowest income families are now up to 19 months behind peers by the time they are 16 years old.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told BBC Panorama Covid had led to a &#8220;serious and profound shift&#8221; in attitudes to attendance. She said lockdowns had cast &#8220;a long shadow&#8221; over the life chances of the youngest children.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The latest statistics for persistent absence show 15% of primary children in England have missed at least one in ten days of school this school year &#8211; up from about 8% before Covid.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">It comes as the gap between the poorest students and other pupils had mainly narrowed before the pandemic, following years of effort by schools.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">However, the report suggests it is getting worse. The gap &#8211; which is measured using GCSE results &#8211; would reduce from 19 months to 15 months of learning if school attendance was the same for all pupils, it says.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Natalie Perera, from the EPI, said it is the first time &#8220;a very clear link&#8221; has been made between how much children from the lowest income families attend school, and how far behind other pupils they have fallen.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Her team looked specifically at children who have received free school meals in the past six years, which means the family income is less than \u00a37,400 a year after tax and not including benefits.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Ms Perera said more research was needed to understand why these children struggled to be in school, with possible factors including poor housing and mental health.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">It is five years since the UK went into lockdown, when schools closed to most children.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Playgroups and nurseries also shut, with parents of babies and toddlers isolated from their extended family. There were other changes too, as health visitors were re-deployed or in contact with parents only online.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Panorama has heard from families and teachers about the impact on these children, who are just starting or are still in primary school.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Schools say some have delayed speech and understanding of words, or have slower social or emotional development, or they lack basic skills normally picked up through play.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Professor Catherine Davies, from the University of Leeds, says some children missed out on &#8220;fundamental skills&#8221; they need to make sense of school and get on with wider groups.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">At Queen&#8217;s Drive Primary School, in Preston, teaching assistant Sarah Barraclough has been trained in a national programme to help four and five-year-olds in England with speech and language.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">She says the impact of Covid has been &#8220;huge&#8221; and if they don&#8217;t learn to say and understand more words, children then become isolated. &#8220;You&#8217;re lonely and not getting involved in the games in the playground,&#8221; she says.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Emaan, now aged four, was born during the first UK lockdown and is one of the children receiving help through Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI).<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">His parents, Ruby and Charles, really notice the difference between Emaan and his older brother. During the pandemic, Emaan barely went out and met other people.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Charles says there is a &#8220;stark difference&#8221; between their sons and that Emaan is a lot more clingy.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The NELI programme to train teaching assistants is funded until the end of this school year in England. But beyond then, funding has not yet been confirmed.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The government has set a 2028 target for 75% of children &#8211; up from 68% &#8211; to reach a good level of development by the time they leave reception.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Some of the cultural shifts caused by the lockdowns and partial school closures could prove to be the hardest to resolve.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The education secretary told the BBC the pandemic had profoundly changed attitudes towards attendance. She said it was important the youngest pupils got the &#8220;support they need to thrive&#8221;.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>8 hours ago<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24089"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24093,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24089\/revisions\/24093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}