Supporting children most affected by disruption to their learning
School readiness
Prior to the Covid 19 pandemic, school readiness was an area of focus in Coventry. The data taken from 2019 indicated that overall, 69% of Coventry children were ‘school ready’ compared to a national average of 71%.
There were concerns that the pandemic has disrupted school readiness, with feedback from Coventry schools and early years providers suggesting that some children were often more comfortable in learning on their own or with a very small number of other children; overwhelmed by a busy classroom, preferring quieter, more solitary activities; evidence of building unhealthy attachments with adults; language delay and confidence in communication; and with gross and fine motor skills that were less well developed, and balance and coordination were below levels expected.
To address these issues, Coventry is part of a pre-reception ‘Building on Success programme’ to provide high quality training to early years staff to support children who were at risk of falling behind at a critical stage of their development and have nominated early years providers who meet the criteria.
Holiday and food programmes
During the pandemic, free school meal provision, holiday activities, and the food pilot programme were extended for children aged 5 to 16 during the Easter, Summer, and Christmas of 2021. This combined enriching activities with a hot or cold meal, nutrition awareness and signposting, enabling learning to continue over the holiday period.
Expansion of free school meal uptake
Free school meal numbers in the city have increased from 11,683 (21.6% of pupil population) at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to 12,683 (23.4% of pupil population) in January 2021, and to 13,272 (24.3% of pupil population) by December 2021. This compared with 20.8% of pupils nationally.