Q&A with Vicky Ford MP, Children's Minister, about return to school for all children

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

We’re pleased to announce a Q&A with Vicky Ford, Conservative MP for Chelmsford and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, about next week’s return to school in England for those children who’ve been learning at home during lockdown.

If you have any questions about how children can catch up with lost learning, how exam results will be approached, what the situation is like for children with SEN and additional needs, how the testing regimen will work, and what safety measures will be expected, now’s your chance to ask.

This is a non-live Q&A: we’ll be collecting your questions until midday on Thursday March 4, and Vicky’s answers will be posted up on this thread on Friday March 5.

As always, please remember our guidelines - please keep it civil, and if one topic is dominating a thread, we might request that people don't continue to post what's effectively the same question or point. Rest assured we will ALWAYS let the guest know that it's an area of concern to multiple users and will encourage them to engage with those questions.

And with that it’s over to you for your questions.

Thanks
MNHQ

@chocolateisavegetable

There has been so much focus on children "catching up" - are you not concerned that some children's mental health is going to suffer because of the pressure on them to catch up? Wouldn't it be better to re-set age-related expectations for all, and focus more on opportunities to socialise and get exercise?

Hi @chocolateisavegetable,

[Very much enjoyed your username by the way]

The key thing for us, as the Government, is ensuring that no child is left behind, and we know that many will have experienced learning loss as a result of the pandemic. It is not in any way the intention to place additional pressure onto pupils during what is an already challenging time, the catch up support is there to help them not burden them!

That’s why we are prioritising the return for all children and young people to the classroom so that they can continue learning in school again but also so they can get back to their PE lessons and school sport once again!

Sir Kevan Collins will also be engaging with parents, teachers and young people to look at the longer-term plan to support children both academically and mentally beyond the immediate-term support for them.

But we know wellbeing and activity is hugely important as well, especially following long periods at home, and the recovery and ‘catch up’ funding we have provided can be used to support wellbeing as well as just academic catch up, which can involve activities support. Our package of recovery support, can be used to ensure the right pastoral support is in place and the Education Endowment Foundation have published a Covid-19 support guide to support schools to direct this funding, which includes further information about interventions to support pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.

All the best,

Vicky

@Piggywaspushed

The British Society of Psychologists recently said they feared for young people's mental health because of the dangers of the 'catch up' narrative and that the words 'catch up' were potentially very damaging.

What is your government going to do to avoid relentless pressure on young people, especially in examination years? How will you aim to prevent their-and their teachers-' mental health from imploding? How is your government working with and listening to Sir Kevan Collins? I am wary of a soundbite culture.

Hello @Piggywaspushed,

Over the last year, we have seen incredible resilience from young people. They have continued with their learning despite the unprecedented challenges they have faced due to this awful pandemic.

We know the pandemic has had an impact on many children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, and that’s why we are prioritising getting children and young people back into the classroom. We want to support children and young people with education recovery, but also recovering any wellbeing setbacks they may have come up against over the last year and our catch up premium can be used for pastoral support activity where needed to support reengagement and recovery.

As you may have seen, we are providing the fairest possible system for those pupils, asking those who know them best – their teachers – to determine their grades, with our sole aim to make sure all young people can progress to the next stage of their education or career.

We know some young people will need broad support to recover and Sir Kevan Collins will be overseeing the work being done to sustain recovery for young people, both academically and mentally, in the longer term. He will be engaging parents, teachers and schools to develop a long-term plan to make sure pupils have the chance to make up their lost education and he will certainly be working closely with him on the issue.

We are absolutely committed to putting to mental health and wellbeing of pupils first, and our new Mental Health in Education Action Group will look at how we best support children and young people’s mental wellbeing as they return to education settings and our £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return programme is facilitating local expert support for education staff to respond to the emotional and mental health pressures some children and young people may be feeling as a result of COVID-19. We’ve also just announced a new £79m investment to expand mental health services to millions more children and young people, including the number of mental health support teams working with schools and colleges.

We have appointed Dr. Alex George as Youth Mental Health Ambassador, who will play an important role in raising the profile of mental health education and wellbeing in schools, colleges, and universities, including through the work of the Mental Health in Education Action Group. Wider mental health support also continues to be available for those that need it. NHS services remain open and we are providing £9.2 million of funding to national and local mental health charities to support adults and children affected by the pandemic.

Vicky

@FoxyTheFox

What guidelines and support will be given to schools to ensure that EHCP provision is met? Despite "best endeavours" measures ending in September and despite it being a legally binding document, many schools still aren't offering all measures contained with EHCPs and are citing covid as the reason why. It's certainly a very widely discussed subject in the disabled parenting groups I am on so definitely not restricted to one school or one region.

Hi @FoxyTheFox,

Thank you for asking this question. Children and young people with Education, Health and Care plans have been at the heart of our policy and pandemic response, and that’s why we’re supporting local authorities to deliver provision during the pandemic, including by providing direct support through Area SEND Ofsted inspections.

Schools have a statutory duty to children with EHCPs and we are working with Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission to resume these visits as soon as possible when schools return to all pupils, to make sure this provision is met, and monitor and advise where necessary.

Vicky

@MildredPuppy

Many children with SEN who are preparing for a phase transfer havent been allocated a school by the statutory deadline of the 15th Feb. (fot year 3 or 7) and many thousands of children with SEN are currently without a school place or in a very unsuitable place. Msny were totally abandoned during lockdown. My own son was given just 1 hour of education he could access. When my son sees news reports that 'all children' are returning to school he knows that for him that means 2 half day sessions and no school place at all next year. When is the government going to tackle SEND.

Hi @MildredPuppy,

It’s not right that your son was just given 1 hour of accessible education. We know how difficult this pandemic has been on children with special educational needs and disabilities and that’s why our guidance throughout the pandemic has encouraged schools to put in reasonable adjustments where necessary for all children, so children with SEND can access the same quality education as their peers.

Local authorities have a statutory duty towards allocating all pupils schools, including children with SEND. We encourage all local authorities and providers to work collaboratively with families, so the right range of provision is available for children.

Ofsted have also recently published video guidance for schools and specialist settings for remote education, illustrating best practice for how it can work for children and young people with SEND.

Long term the SEND sector is our priority, and our upcoming SEND review will look into making sure the system is consistent, high quality, and integrated across education, health and care.

Vicky

@Useruseruserusee

Hello Vicky,

I am a teacher and I am concerned about children with SEND. Throughout the autumn term we tried our best to support these children but other professionals refused to come to school, stating it was too risky. In particular, speech and language therapists refused to complete face to face assessments. Language development is absolutely crucial and it is time limited. What will the government be doing ensure that children with SEND get the face to face access to professionals they need?

Thank you.

Hi @Useruseruserusee,

Firstly, thank you so much to you and every other teacher and member of staff who is supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities during these tough times.

You’re right, language development is incredibly crucial. That’s why we kept schools open to vulnerable pupils during restrictions, and why we’re encouraging extended catch-up support beyond the school term this summer to children and young people with SEND. We have made it very clear that specialist therapists can return to school.

Our new one-off £302 million Recovery Premium, for state primary and secondary schools, will build on the Pupil Premium to further support pupils who need it most, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. Specialist settings will also receive a higher rate of funding from this Premium in recognition of their higher running costs.

Vicky

@SuzieMarie

For children with SEN, especially Speech and Language needs, can you think creatively about "catch up" support and fund evidence based inteventions to boost group vocabulary, narrative, phonological awareness. And fund individual or small group therapy in school by specialist speech and language therapists - so these vulnerable children can catch up with the vital skills that underpin learning.

Hi @SuzieMarie,

You’re right, Speech and Language Needs are so important to consider for vulnerable children. We’ve made sure that our further investment of £300 million for tutoring, building on the existing £1billion Covid Catch Up Fund, can be used to improve access to technology, extra teaching capacity or speech and language therapy for pupils with additional needs.

Vicky

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for taking the time to ask these important questions. I hope I have helped in some way and covered the main topics and concerns you raised.

I’d like to thank the team at Mumsnet for helping to accommodate this discussion.

I’d also like to express once again my sincere gratitude for the resilience and hard work of parents, nursery workers, teachers, support staff, social workers (I could of course go on, the list is almost endless) who have worked tirelessly over the last year to make sure our children have received the support they need during these difficult times.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and that everything goes well for your children’s first days back at school where you have that to look forward to.

Vicky