Lockdown Kids

Published: March 22nd, 2025

A Panorama programme (BBC1,17th March 2025) has highlighted the negative aftermath of Covid 19 on children currently at their Early Years Foundation Stage of education (EYFS): suggesting that, five years on from lockdowns, a significant proportion are not ‘school ready’. In addition, a  considerable number of these children do not have English as their first language. 

The Covid lockdowns of 2020 meant that toddlers mainly played inside with hardly any social interaction. As a result, many children in this age group are arriving at school with little knowledge of how to ‘be’ in the company of other children or adults: appearing cautious or uncomfortable around peers. Aside from the crucial lack of language and social skills, these children are not toilet trained, often do not use a knife and fork, or know to dress and undress themselves. 

What are we to make of this situation? And how can it be addressed? The TV programme featured the use of additional teaching assistants, employed in schools to develop children’s language, without which, reading can’t even begin.  

From approximately April 2021, as schools reopened, return to normality has been slow. School attendance is still below what it was pre Covid: with almost half of pupils missing out on about 10% of their school learning. Relationships between teachers and parents have also stalled, as other reports have questioned whether schools are treading on parental toes when it comes to teaching social skills to children. A key question! 

Habits that have been damaged by the pandemic are proving difficult to reinstate: children are staying at home, often not even getting dressed. No doubt, many of these absentees spend their days on mobile phones: which could, if continued, open up dangers of a different kind.

The programme also suggested that many of these children come from low income families: and, as a result, the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged children has significantly widened since the Covid interruptions to normal life – linked to the current cost of living crisis.

Such is the Covid legacy! And there are no simple answers to the problem of how to enable these children to catch up; given that their funding for extra language support is due to cease after 2025. 

The Government’s target? For 75% of children to be ‘school ready’ by 2028. So, two key issues – interlinked. The first: how to enable the ‘Covid legacy’ cohort of children to catch up and fully achieve their potential. The second: how to achieve the Government’s new 75% target of ‘school readiness.’ 

A tall order indeed; but one that must be addressed urgently. 

Sylvia Edwards is a respected author and educator with a passion for improving the educational experiences of children and young people. With a career dedicated to literacy and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), Sylvia has authored numerous books aimed at helping parents and teachers support students from the Early Years Foundation Stage through to Key Stage 3. Join her mission to enhance education and support every child’s learning journey. Discover more about her work and publications at sylviaedwardsauthor.co.uk 📖✨

#Education #KeyStage #SEND #Literacy #Parenting #SylviaEdwards

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