This Covid-19 Impact Review from Edurio, comprising of over 45,000 pupils, parents and staff members from 277 schools, reveals that 99 per cent of teachers have reported that their pupils will need additional support to ‘catch up’ with lost learning during lockdown.
Almost half of teacher respondents (four out of 10) stated that the gap had increased significantly, with 99 per cent of teachers reporting that their pupils will need additional support to catch up. The results from secondary schools were materially worse than for primaries, with less than a third of Year 10-13 students reporting they are making good progress.
In addition to the growing attainment gap, the study highlighted several wellbeing concerns in schools; over half of parents (55 per cent) reported seeing their child stressed or anxious more often than usual, 29 per cent of pupils admitted to feeling overworked, and 37 per cent reported feeling stressed on a regular basis.
On the other hand, communication clarity and decision-making by school leadership was rated favourably, with 85 per cent of staff members and 79 per cent of parents reporting that decisions made by the school leadership team and the expectations from staff were clear last term.
Key Findings:
- 87% of staff and 72% of parents reported they were happy with their school’s handling of the Covid-19 disruption. 58%
- of pupils say they have coped well while 16% have struggled.
- There are material differences in Covid-19 resilience between schools. Primary schools have fared better than
- secondaries. Ofsted rating and school size have not had a material impact on overall results.
- 8 in 10 teachers report that the gap in attainment between more and less able pupils is increasing, with 4 out of 10 saying it is increasing a lot. Over half of teachers feel that all or most of their pupils will require additional support to catch up with learning.
- Only 3 out of 10 parents are very or quite confident about their child making progress last term. In contrast, over half of pupils report they are progressing well. However, this differs materially across year groups, with less than a third of Year 10-13 pupils reporting good progress.
- More than half of parents reported having seen their children being more stressed or anxious this term, compared to usual.
- Almost four in ten pupils reported feeling stressed often this term. Three in ten pupils reported feeling overworked often this term.
- Three quarters of teachers frequently collaborated with other teachers last term, and 63% of staff report feeling like part of one team with their colleagues last term.
- Over half of pupils never worked together with their classmates on something last term. A quarter of pupils report often feeling lonely.
- More than eight out of ten staff and more than seven out of ten parents found the way the school communicated with them to be clear. Leadership decisions and expectations were found to be clear by 85% of staff and 79% of parents.
- Half of staff members felt involved in the decisions that affected their work. In contrast, only a quarter of parents reported that they had felt involved in shaping their school's response to Covid-19.