Fourth Report - Is the Catch-up Programme fit for purpose?
Select Committee
Education Committee
HC 940
10 March 2022
Recommendations
2 results
2
Acknowledged
The Department must continue to establish the full effect of the pandemic on children and...
Recommendation
The Department must continue to establish the full effect of the pandemic on children and young people. This must consider the impacts felt by children from disadvantaged backgrounds and on the regional disparities of support offered. This must not be …
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the need to establish the full effect of the pandemic on children and young people, including impacts on mental health and regional disparities, and states that it is investing in research, monitoring data, and considering impacts on specific pupil characteristics, including ethnicity and free school meals eligibility.
Department for Education
View Details
18
Acknowledged
Para 76
The Department must fast-track its commitments to ensuring all schools have a designated mental health...
Recommendation
The Department must fast-track its commitments to ensuring all schools have a designated mental health lead. All catch-up plans, including enrichment activities and longer school days, must include a specific role for activities that focus on mental health and wellbeing.
Read more
Government Response Summary
The government highlights the opportunity for all schools to train a senior mental health lead by 2025, and says decisions about enrichment activities are made by schools.
Department for Education
View Details
Conclusions (5) Observations and findings — click to expand
1
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 18
There is no doubt that school closures have had a devasting effect on children’s education. One 2020 study found that children locked down at home in the UK spent an average of only 2.5 hours each day doing schoolwork, and one fifth of pupils did no schoolwork at home, or …
Government Response Summary
The government recognises the need to understand the full impact Covid-19 has had on children and young people, and is investing in research to establish the effects on attainment, mental health and wellbeing.
3
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 24
Stakeholders have expressed concerns over the sufficiency of the Government’s investment in the Catch-up Programme. The Department’s own annual report from 2020/21 rated the risk of its measures to address lost learning being insufficient as “critical/very likely”. The sector needs assurance of ongoing support to address the challenges of the …
Government Response Summary
The government recognises concerns about the impact of the pandemic on children and young people’s academic progress and has committed almost £5bn for an ambitious and evidence based, multi-year education recovery plan which includes funding for tutoring, teaching, and direct funding targeted at those that need it most.
4
Conclusion
Acknowledged
We welcome the funding the Government has already committed to help pupils catch up, but we believe the existing funding arrangements for catch-up amount to a spaghetti junction of funding, piling more work on teachers and support staff who have needed to navigate multiple funding processes to access different streams …
Government Response Summary
The government welcomes the committee’s interest in the catch-up programme and recognises concerns about the impact of the pandemic and the need to ensure pupils recover learning.
6
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 33
The impact of school closures and the pandemic has resulted in a reversal of the progress made in narrowing the attainment gap, with children in the North disproportionately affected. It is also alarming that children and young people in the North, particularly the North-East and Yorkshire and the Humber, have …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the disproportionate impact of school closures and the pandemic on children in the North and has invested in research to understand the full impact of Covid-19 on children and young people, including its effect on attainment and mental health and wellbeing, while also considering regional disparities.
17
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 75
Before the pandemic there were serious concerns about the mental health of our children and young people. The pandemic has exacerbated an existing crisis in mental health, with as many as 1 in 6 children aged 6–16 years old now suffering from a probable mental health condition. It is vital …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges that mental health and wellbeing are a priority and highlights its commitment to promoting and supporting them in schools and colleges.