Question
Schools in the Borough have been in unprecedented turmoil due to the covid-19 pandemic. This has not been helped by chaotic decision-making by the Government which has resulted in mixed messages and complete changes of mind on when children would be returning to school, what schools should do to accommodate them, and exam results.
This turmoil is likely to continue for some time. We may have future local hot spots which require schools to be closed temporarily for example. Many activities which have previously been taken for granted will be more difficult, more expensive or impossible to deliver, such as school trips, presentation and parents’ evenings, fetes and sports days, school plays and concerts. These difficulties even extend to ensuring children can travel to school safely.
We also have to deal with further consequences of what has already happened – children taking public exams next year have had their learning disrupted; those intending to go to university may not have the expected range of places available to them due to this year’s students taking up deferred offers, and we have yet to see what the impact of lockdown has been on children’s mental health and on other issues which affect them, such as domestic violence, and families with significantly reduced incomes as a result of job loss or pay reductions.
What is the Council going to do to support schools, staff, pupils and parents during this academic year to minimise the detrimental impact of these issues on them?
Minutes:
Schools in the Borough have been in unprecedented turmoil due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This has not been helped by chaotic decision-making by the Government which has resulted in mixed messages and complete changes of mind on when children would be returning to school, what schools should do to accommodate them, and exam results.
This turmoil is likely to continue for some time. We may have future local hot spots which require schools to be closed temporarily for example. Many activities which have previously been taken for granted will be more difficult, more expensive or impossible to deliver, such as school trips, presentation and parents’ evenings, fetes and sports days, school plays and concerts. These difficulties even extend to ensuring children can travel to school safely.
We also have to deal with further consequences of what has already happened – children taking public exams next year have had their learning disrupted; those intending to go to university may not have the expected range of places available to them due to this year’s students taking up deferred offers, and we have yet to see what the impact of lockdown has been on children’s mental health and on other issues which affect them, such as domestic violence, and families with significantly reduced incomes as a result of job loss or pay reductions.
What is the Council going to do to support schools, staff, pupils and parents during this academic year to minimise the detrimental impact of these issues on them?
Answer
The last academic year has been incredibly challenging for all schools including their staff, students and parents. However, Wokingham has had some of the best performance in respect of maintaining school opening and attendance from March 2020 when schools were asked to close to most students.
We have continued to work with schools and academies throughout the pandemic, providing advice, guidance and support in the light of national guidance as well as local learning. This has included daily communication to all school senior leaders and directors and stakeholders, and bespoke responses where there have been issues or concerns related to potential outbreaks.
We have worked closely with the Department for Education to inform and fully understand national policy in the changing context to which you refer, and we have had a close relationship with Public Health in the development and management of the Outbreak Management Plan, which has specific reference to schools and settings.
Now going forward, we will continue to engage with schools on all coronavirus related issues, and we will be supporting them on the usage of the catch up premium and national tutoring scheme announced by the Government in July. We will be making best use of the additional resources we will be receiving in respect of supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, and reorganising service delivery to support children back to school and back to class based learning.
I would like to remind you that in July we started a free online counselling service for 11-18 year olds. It is emotional support through digital counselling and there is no referral, no waiting list. It is open 7 days a week and 365 days a year.
Supplementary Question:
As indicated in the question and in your answer the impact of the pandemic on children’s mental health is a big concern. What steps are you taking to make sure that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services have sufficient capacity to meet the likely need?
Supplementary Answer:
As you are aware, when it comes to CAMHS, there is a waiting list and there has always been a waiting list, and it looks as if there will continue to be a waiting list. That is why I am very pleased that we have now this free, online counselling service. We are hoping that this will be something that children and young adults will be using, and of course, should it turn out that this problem is bigger than we have been notified of so far, then we will need to look into further measures to help them.