Covid had 'significant impact' on youngsters’ education in Rotherham as school boss praises staff

An education review of the last academic year was presented Rotherham Council’s improving lives select commission meeting yesterday (December 21).

The report states that the Covid pandemic has ‘directly impacted’ the attendance rate in schools across the borough, which has led to ‘concerns around disproportionate impact on disadvantaged and vulnerable groups against periods of school closure’.

Nathan Heath, assistant director of education at RMBC, told the meeting: “There has been significant impact in education in the last academic year.

“There’s been a number of periods where we’ve seen significant pressures across the system, that’s including national lockdowns, Rotherham schools moving into tier three, and also significant incidents of challenge where we’re seeing disproportionate impact on school attendance including higher levels of self isolation.

Mr Heath praised school staff for their hard work throughout the pandemic, adding: “It’s really important to recognise… that our schools, school leaders, associated school communities and RMBC staff have continually worked extremely hard to support both the children in school, [and] the wider communities they serve.”

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“We are seeing within the context of the pandemic, a number of challenges within the Early Years sector.

“Speech and Language remains one of our key priorities and has remained a key priority for a sustained period.

“Schools have adapted very well to some of the challenges.”