Far fewer state schools appear to be providing key services to support vulnerable students, including on-site counselling and parental support programmes, than were doing so a decade ago. This IPPR report argues that access to support services will be crucial to address the sharp inequalities in children’s home-learning environment highlighted by the pandemic.
Differences in pupils’ home and family backgrounds have long been acknowledged as a major cause of the attainment gap between students across England. This report exposes a clear gulf in provision of all kinds of health support between state schools in more affluent areas and those serving least well-off communities - and an even wider gap with private schools.
The report found 48 per cent of teachers said their schools offered on-site counselling, and 37 per cent reported parental support programmes. Private schools and state schools in more affluent areas were far more likely to provide crucial support services such as counselling, access to a school nurse and after-school clubs than those in less affluent areas.
Meanwhile, parental support services and before-school clubs were more likely to be provided by state schools in less affluent areas but are far from universal. More than a third of teachers (38 per cent) in the most deprived areas said their schools weren’t providing before-school clubs and more than half (53 per cent) said they didn’t provide parental support services.
The report argues for schools to be developed as hubs for local services supporting children’s health and wellbeing. It also proposes that the government establishes, and fully funds:
A national entitlement to an extended school day (with activities before and after school)
A comprehensive programme of parent engagement and activities
On-site mental health and social work support in every school