Saturday
26
July
Covid-19 educational 'scar' on Newtown pupils
20/07/2022 @ 04:00
Covid-19 lockdowns which saw children taught from home has left an educational scar on the children in Newtown and throughout Powys, the county’s head of education has claimed.
Ms Bevan said: “Research has found that extended periods away from school have negatively affected the mathematical performance of most, more upsettingly the affect is more noticeable in vulnerable learners.”
She said that skill levels in boys had “regressed” more than girls and that “mathematical confidence” had dropped across the board.
Work to turn this around saw schools working together to find out what approach works best.
Literacy is not just based on how pupil perform in English and Welsh lessons – but also how their reading, writing, and speaking skills are used across all subjects.
Ms Bevan said: “There has been significant impacts on literacy development following the Covid lockdowns, many lack resilience in reading and writing as well as a regression on their oral and communication skills.”
She added that the quality of handwriting and the ability to write extended pieces of writing had suffered and, again, boys were lagging behind girls.
But it is not just a Powys problem, Ms Bevan told the committee that research from across the UK suggested that some Year 7 pupils were now nearly two years behind where they should be.
She said that those pupils in Welsh medium streams that lived in non-Welsh speaking households had been “disadvantaged” and that the Welsh Government had provided a number of recommendations to support them.
To halt this decline, Ms Bevan said that schools were working together to share good practice.
Cllr Jeremy Thorp asked if Powys was “better or worse” than the national average in terms of how Covid-19 had affected pupils.
Ms Bevan told the committee that Powys pupils had not been compared nationally – but the council had gathered data on the issues.
“We have conducted summer term skills visits with a focus on numeracy, literacy and digital,” she said. “We have used Estyn guidance as well to capture a baseline of where we are with skills in Powys.
“We will know where we are on numeracy, literacy and digital skills and what we analyse to make sure we provide the help to narrow those gaps.”
A report with recommendations will be given to schools to help them plan their work for next year and staff from the education department would return to schools in the autumn to evaluate how it is progressing.
Ms Bevan said: “Research has found that extended periods away from school have negatively affected the mathematical performance of most, more upsettingly the affect is more noticeable in vulnerable learners.”
She said that skill levels in boys had “regressed” more than girls and that “mathematical confidence” had dropped across the board.
Work to turn this around saw schools working together to find out what approach works best.
Literacy is not just based on how pupil perform in English and Welsh lessons – but also how their reading, writing, and speaking skills are used across all subjects.
Ms Bevan said: “There has been significant impacts on literacy development following the Covid lockdowns, many lack resilience in reading and writing as well as a regression on their oral and communication skills.”
She added that the quality of handwriting and the ability to write extended pieces of writing had suffered and, again, boys were lagging behind girls.
But it is not just a Powys problem, Ms Bevan told the committee that research from across the UK suggested that some Year 7 pupils were now nearly two years behind where they should be.
She said that those pupils in Welsh medium streams that lived in non-Welsh speaking households had been “disadvantaged” and that the Welsh Government had provided a number of recommendations to support them.
To halt this decline, Ms Bevan said that schools were working together to share good practice.
Cllr Jeremy Thorp asked if Powys was “better or worse” than the national average in terms of how Covid-19 had affected pupils.
Ms Bevan told the committee that Powys pupils had not been compared nationally – but the council had gathered data on the issues.
“We have conducted summer term skills visits with a focus on numeracy, literacy and digital,” she said. “We have used Estyn guidance as well to capture a baseline of where we are with skills in Powys.
“We will know where we are on numeracy, literacy and digital skills and what we analyse to make sure we provide the help to narrow those gaps.”
A report with recommendations will be given to schools to help them plan their work for next year and staff from the education department would return to schools in the autumn to evaluate how it is progressing.
By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|