Horsham school pupils help children overcome the impact of lockdown on education

Students at Bohunt Horsham were among 60,000 across the country who helped researchers track the impact of Covid-19 on schoolchildren.

The study, led by a non-profit organisation called ImpactEd, looked at which groups of pupils had been most affected by lockdowns and the effect on their wellbeing and learning.

Bohunt Horsham was one of a number of schools run by the Bohunt Education Trust, including one in Worthing, that took part.

The trust’s director of education Phil Avery said: “ImpactEd’s diagnostic tool gave us clear, insightful data that we could action at the level of individuals.

“This allowed us to use our limited resources to have the greatest impact on students’ wellbeing and learning.

“We were then able to drill deeper into the data, and particularly pupils’ written answers, to understand exactly how each of these groups were being affected in different ways.

“From this analysis we were able to adjust our approach so that we were working preventatively, rather than reactively.

“We found that girls, disadvantaged students and those with special needs were most affected in terms of wellbeing and that, for exam years, the lack of clarity caused acute stress.

“This granular information, when combined with staff committed to a holistic education, led to carefully targeted interventions, an outdoor learning programme, mental health workshops, ‘game-changer days’ designed to get students outside and away from screens, and literacy interventions.

“Understanding which pupils are struggling in which areas has enabled us to have more impact with less resource.

“This couldn’t be more welcome at a time when energy levels and finances are under strain. Furthermore, our partnership is having a transformative effect on the school and our attitude towards evidence-informed practice, not just within the context of the pandemic, but in general.”

Nationally, ImpactEd’s report reveals that those in GCSE years and studying for A levels - Years 10 and 11 - have suffered the most.

Pupils studying for GCSEs reported the lowest learning scores from June to November, on an ongoing downward trend; and anxiety among pupils in these year groups also increased since the return to school in September, and rose the most.

The research also shows that the learning and motivation gaps between those in Year 10 and 11, compared to children in other year groups, widened after the return to school in September.

Overall wellbeing through the study showed Years 13 (when students take A levels), 11 and 10 had the lowest wellbeing scores – 22.5 for Year 11, followed by 22.6 for Year 13 and then 22.8 for Year 10.

It also shows that the challenges to education posed by the coronavirus crisis during last year’s lockdowns were overwhelmingly felt more by less well-off pupils.

It also showed that girls were also more anxious about returning to school than boys and experienced higher levels of anxiety on resuming in-person education. Girls reported higher anxiety than boys by an average of more than 10 per cent.

Students at Bohunt Education Trust academies that took part in the study are: Costello School in Basingstoke, Hampshire; Bohunt Horsham, Bohunt School in Liphook, Hampshire; Priory School in Portsmouth, TPS in Petersfield, Bohunt Wokingham, Berkshire; and Bohunt Worthing .