Thousands of vulnerable children in Sheffield 'put at-risk as schools close during coronavirus crisis'

Concerns have been raised that thousands of vulnerable schoolchildren in Sheffield are at an increased risk of harm due to the coronavirus crisis.

According to Government guidance, since schools were closed on March 20, at-risk or vulnerable children with a social worker are encouraged to attend school every weekday.

However, in practice large numbers of these children are not attending school, leaving many in education concerned abuse or neglect could be going unreported.

Sheffield Council said that of the 3,195 vulnerable children in the city, only 711 - or less than a quarter - had attended school in the week commencing April 23.

A city headteacher confirmed that out of about 100 children who were entitled or expected to attend their school during the lockdown, only between a quarter and a half were actually coming in.

He said: “We are pushing hard to get them to attend and they do have key workers who maintain contact with them - but many families don’t want their kids coming in.

“Also, social services are not doing face to face visits. Under government guidance we can so we are going out and doing home visits where we are concerned about a family.

“We had one situation where there was an injury to a child that would in normal circumstances have meant immediate intervention and possible removal.

“But the response from social services was to ask us whether we could have the child in school so we could make sure they were safe for at least five hours a day.

“We also deal with quite a lot of domestic violence but we are not getting the notifications from the police anymore so we don’t know what is going on.”

National figures show that during two weeks in April, between 5 and 10 per cent of vulnerable children attended school in England.

Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, said this inevitably meant many of these children would be at increased risk.

She said: “While the Government’s decision to keep schools open for the most vulnerable children is welcome, sadly most of them are just not showing up.

“They are most likely at home, often exposed to a cocktail of secondary risks – a lack of food in the house, sofa-surfing or cramped living conditions, neglect, or experiencing acute difficulties due to parental domestic violence, substance abuse and mental health problems.

“Many will be caring for parents or siblings themselves in these incredibly difficult circumstances.”

John Macilwraith, executive director of people at Sheffield Council said social services teams in the city were in regular contact with all vulnerable children, whether they were in school or not.

He said: “All of these children in Sheffield have been risk assessed and individual plans put in place by social workers and education colleagues to make sure that their needs are met.

“We are also following the government guidance that where possible for children to remain at home they should do so.

“For those vulnerable children not attending school our staff are working tirelessly to make sure they are being supported and safeguarded at home, organising home visits, food parcels, telephone calls and video conferences.

“If you are worried about a child or young person please call the Sheffield Safeguarding Hub on 0114 273 4855.”