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.