On 4 May 2020, NAHT invited all members to complete a survey on their school’s educational and well-being provision for pupils. We received 4,784 responses, and the findings below are based on those responses.
Our key findings
- 88% of respondents stated that their school building is open in some form for eligible pupils to attend – either on its own (77%) or as part of a formal or informal hub-type arrangement (12%)
- Only 3% of respondents said their school was closed due to lack of sufficient places. The three key reasons given for a lack of sufficient places were as follows:
o Parents/carers of eligible pupils chose not to access a school place because alternative arrangements were available (76%)
o Parents/carers of eligible pupils were unwilling to access a school place because of safety concerns for their children (58%)
o Parents/carers of eligible pupils were unwilling to access a school place because of safety concerns for others in their household (35%).
Provision for vulnerable children and children of key workers
- We asked respondents what proportion of children of key workers in their school who were offered a place during lockdown took up the offer.
o 22% of respondents reported that 1%-5% had taken up the offer, while a further 15% reported that 6%-10% had done so
o 2% of respondents reported that none had taken up a place.
- The key reasons that places for children of key workers were not taken up were as follows:
o Parents/carers had alternative arrangements in place (eg childcare, distance learning) (77%)
o Parents/carers of eligible pupils were unwilling to access a school place because of safety concerns for their children (66%)
o Parents/carers of eligible pupils were unwilling to access a school place because of safety concerns for others in their household (49%).
- We asked respondents what proportion of vulnerable children in their school who were offered a place during lockdown took up the offer.
o 28% of respondents reported that 1%-5% had taken up the offer, while a further 10% reported that 6%-10% had done so
o 14% of respondents stated that none had done so.
- The key reasons that places for vulnerable children were not taken up were as follows:
o Parents/carers of eligible pupils were unwilling to access a school place because of safety concerns for their children (72%)
o Parents/carers of eligible pupils were unwilling to access a school place because of safety concerns for others in their household (50%)
o Parents/carers had alternative arrangements in place (eg childcare, distance learning) (49%).
- We asked respondents what actions their school had taken to reach out to vulnerable pupils not attending school during lockdown. The three most common were as follows:
o Telephone calls to vulnerable pupils and/or their families at home (98%)
o Liaising with social services to ensure continued provision of support (81%)
o Online contact with vulnerable pupils and/or their families at home (79%)
- Other responses included the following:
o 35% of schools are conducting regular or ad-hoc home visits
o 43% of schools are providing access to school-based well-being support (eg counsellor)
o 50% of schools are liaising with health care services to ensure continued provision of support.
Remote learning
- 99.7% of respondents said they were providing home learning resources for pupils not attending school
o 57% of respondents provide these home learning resources daily
o 29% provide them once a week.
- We asked respondents about how they provided home learning resources and what this provision looks like. The three most common answers were as follows:
o Sharing existing online resources (eg via email or school websites) (86%)
o Producing/creating our own online resources (78%)
o Providing physical resources (e.g. books, worksheets) (71%)
o Additionally, 67% of schools are liaising with parents/carers to ensure the accessibility of home learning for pupils
- 95% of respondents reported that these home learning resources were either broadly or closely aligned to the curriculum
- In relation to external home learning resources, most respondents were as follows:
o Using BBC Bitesize resources (84%) or DfE recommended online resources (61%)
o Just under half (47%) of respondents reported using resources provided by Oak National Academy as part of their home learning provision.
- We asked respondents to estimate what proportion of their pupils would be unable to access online learning at home because they do not have the appropriate technology or internet connection.
o 41% felt that between 1% and 10% of their pupils may face this difficulty
o 16% identified 11%-20% of their pupils who may struggle.
Pupil support
- The most common forms of pupil support reported were as follows:
o Telephone calls to parents and carers (95%)
o Telephone calls to pupils (77%)
o Online contact with parents and carers (75%)
o Many schools are also signposting to support from charities (73%), arranging access/referrals to relevant services (51%), providing access to school-based wellbeing support (43%) and arranging access/referrals to mental health services (30%)
o16% of schools are offering bereavement support for families directly impacted by the coronavirus.
- 60% of respondents had raised safeguarding concerns with social care, the police or other services about pupils since the coronavirus pandemic
- We asked respondents what actions their school had taken to support families who may be facing financial difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic:
o 85% have provided hard-copy materials / books / resources for pupils
o 78% have provided food vouchers through the national scheme
o 64% have provided food or care packages to families
o 42% have provided food vouchers from the school budget
o More than half (54%) have provided or signposted families to financial guidance/advice
o Just more than a third (36%), have provided devices/hardware to pupils without access to them at home.