There will be so many illiterate kids after Covid.

[Elephant4]

If we lockdown again - and even if we don't.

So many kids are getting little to no education. It's been almost a year now and looks like it could last another one.

I'm not talking about my kids. I look after them and educate them after school and during lockdowns etc as best I can.

But there's so many kids round here who have little to no parental support. We live in a deprived area with high Covid rates. Barely any of the kids had any education during lockdown. In the last term bubbles, year groups, classes have been sent home constantly. Schools have been shut due to teacher shortages. When the kids are at school they're not being taught due to supply teachers - behaviour being awful - much worse than before.

The kids at Secondary level here were already underachieving. This pandemic's school closures etc will leave thousands all over the country illiterate - or otherwise very close to it - I reckon.

My DC, one in y5 and one y8 have been in school pretty much 100% since September and the quality of homeschooling during lockdown was good compared to other schools. So in assessments from A/W term, they seemed to have performed quite well.
However I'm well aware this is not the case in all areas. In places with high Covid rates, I'm sure some children have been out of school more than in, since September, due to bubble closures.
Quality of homeschooling during lockdown was highly variable with many schools just relying on Oak Academy (my DC's schools chose not to use this other than for a handful of foreign language lessons) and with little feedback. I am really amazed by the dedication of staff in both DC's schools.

My below average child at school got a certificate for being the top in his year to complete the most home learning work throughout the first lockdown he has thrived and now wants to be home schooled (not happening I'm not clever enough, plus we would be poor as i work everyday and did throughout lockdown which makes me even more proud of him)

Are we actually talking about literacy here? Or trying to teach GCSE chemistry and physics with a pen and paper? Because there’s quite a difference.

I’m talking about basic literacy and numeracy. My DD is developmentally delayed and we think has a processing disorder - which we can’t get assessed because schools are closed and all Ed Psych assessments have stopped. She needs specialist help with her learning, abd at 9 has only a couple of years left in primary school to pick things up. My husband and I are well educated but need to understand how to support her particular difficulties which again can’t happen because schools are closed. We’ve got a specialist tutor for her which is helping but can’t make up for the time she’s not in school with her peer group learning as she should.

Other families we know aren’t so fortunate, don’t have the resources available to them, children who won’t be sent to school even though they’re recognised as vulnerable because no one else is at school or the provision just isn’t accessible to them. It’s incredibly naive to think taking kids out of school for most of the term won’t have long term consequences for some of them, that gap simply won’t be made up.

Interesting too that parents can be fined for taking their kids out of school for 5 days because it’s vital children don’t miss school for any reason, but it’s no problem then having a full year seriously disrupted.

For the first time I am glad my daughter is at a small private primary school. Her school's lockdown provision has been excellent and when the kids returned to school last term, they didn't have to isolate once (except the school closing 3 days earlier for the Christmas break than originally anticipated)

@kowari I think it's unusual for kids who read a lot to struggle with English. What is it he struggles with?

[quote XelaM]@kowari I think it's unusual for kids who read a lot to struggle with English. What is it he struggles with?[/quote]
The writing part. Can ace any multiple choice English comprehension, reading age of 16 by year 8. Spelling is average, grammar fine. I was the same, voracious reader but got a C for English.

@Isthatitnow

FFS. If they are aged5, there is plenty of time to work it out? Perhaps as a parent do some additional reading with your child?

If you think that teachers are so shit, we can’t get your child to literacy between the age of 5 and 18, you really need to be homeschooling.

There were plenty of children already leaving school illiterate even with the full 190 days worth of lessons. Many of them with parents who have neither the ability, nor the inclination to make up for gaps in the education of their offspring. Middle class kids will cope. Those left behind will sink still further.

Nine million adults in the UK are functionally illiterate, and one in four British five-year-olds struggles with basic vocabulary. Three-quarters of white working-class boys fail to achieve the government's benchmark at the age of 16.3 Mar 2019

I didn't realise literacy levels were so low in the UK. Esp as the mother of three white WC boys

Nine million adults in the UK are functionally illiterate, and one in four British five-year-olds struggles with basic vocabulary. Three-quarters of white working-class boys fail to achieve the government's benchmark at the age of 16.3 Mar 2019

I think at least 50% of them are on Facebook!

@TheCrowsHaveEyes - thought you weren't going to keep replying as you realised how unhelpful your replies were?

Unfortunately you continue to believe you know better about my experience than I do. And it was solely this that I took issue with you about. I don't need to hear about what the Conservatives have done and this and that. I was a social worker - I understand only too well! Why do you feel the constant need to educate me on things I clearly know all about due to my lived experience as well as my professional experience.

Again you have decided what experience I value. If you really care about these issues you would do well to really listen to what people with experience are saying. Really listen and not just decide you already know it all.

I told you I felt invalidated and patronised by your attitude that you knew better what was happening in my life than I did. That has nothing to do with approach and nothing to do with what type of experience we value. I felt invalidated by you.

And for what's it's worth in Social work and Nursing I have always been taught that the lived experience is the most important. That's why we have roles like 'patient expert' because they really are the experts.
But thank you for showing me what it feels like to be the one in the vulnerable position and have your actual lived experience invalidated. It's a horrible feeling and once I'm back at work I will remember this and be determined even more so to really listen and understand the 'experts'.

I'd appreciate it if you could take your own advice and leave it there.

@LegoAndLolDolls

Agree. I personally would like to see everything but maths English and science dumped from.per GCSE curriculum for a short time.

If schools close again I will not follow what is set for my year 1 dd. I will look at maths and English only. Then if they do close for more than a few months I will move her to private at some point. She is my youngest so it's a option as I wouldnt be paying full fees. She is a summer born in year 1 but should be in year two. She cant read or write and should be in juniors come September.

Also I have no clue what she is doing in school anymore.

I'm afraid the private schools have to close as well. On the other hand in our experience at least, they do offer good online provision, but that's only any good if you can get your child to do it.

Dreading them closing again

There's a dichotomy in valuing school but not supporting the teachers who think their workplace is unsafe; supporting the politicians calling for more funding for educating in a pandemic; supporting the campaigners and community leaders calling for a radical rethink of the education system.

As with other areas, there was an opportunity to think about the best way to make the education system work for DCs, a chance to rethink provision. There were some fascinating roundtable discussions about it. But, the current system (underfunded, stretched-to-breaking as it is) obviously suits a lot of people and particularly suits certain politicians.