On the impact of lockdowns on schoolchildren

 While at work today I can across this piece of Research on the DfE website: The impact of COVID-19 on 2020 to 2021 assessment arrangements. This paragraph stood out:

'however good the remote provision, it did not measure up to face-to-face learning. Students missed the interactions with their teachers and the ability to ask for clarification about topics in real time. They also missed interactions with their peers, citing group work, debates and projects as features that could not be captured as well online – even when the lessons were live – as in the classroom.' 

Indeed. My experience working in an online school was that while better than nothing it is not a good substitute for being in a school. The socialization role of schooling is of equal importance to the skills and knowledge acquired. It is becoming more and more apparent that the lockdowns had a hugely damaging effect on children, (who the data is clear were not at risk of covid), and were a massive overreaction whose effects will be felt for decades.


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