More than 15,000 pupils have had to isolate at some point since September 2020 across Trafford due to positive coronavirus cases in the borough’s schools.
And concerns remain that some of Trafford’s children will be significantly disadvantaged’ in terms of their education as a result of the pandemic and repeated school closures – with reading and understanding levels particularly impacted.
With around 42,300 pupils currently across Trafford’s primary, secondary and early years schools, a total of 673 positive coronavirus cases have been confirmed across the borough’s pupils.
A further 345 have been detected across the borough’s schools’ staff.
With these cases in mind, a total of 15,876 Trafford pupils have had to isolate at some point since September 2020 after possibly coming into contact with positive cases.
Similarly, 787 staff have also had to isolate at some point during that same period.
A Trafford council document said: “Both the autumn and spring terms have been incredibly challenging for all school leaders who have had to deal with many positive cases of Covid, and the requirement to identify close contacts who have needed to self-isolate and the more recent lockdown implications.
“Invariably, this has resulted in operating with reduced number of staff whilst still needing to implement remote learning and address the impact of lockdown on pupils’ learning.
“School leaders are also managing the additional financial costs incurred by ensuring their provision is Covid safe and secure.”
Most of the pupils who needed to self isolate at some point since September 2020 were in secondary schools – 8,321 pupils in total.
Across primary schools a further 7,077 pupils had to isolate at some point during that same period.
Since January 2021, the numbers of cases has reduced due to the reduction of
children and young people attending schools.
After the country’s third lockdown was called in January, a Trafford council document said: “Thanks to the dedication of Trafford’s teachers and school leaders, remote education is being delivered in all our schools when it is needed.”
But a ‘common challenge’ that keeps coming up is access to technology to allow remote learning.
A council document said: “In some cases families are sharing one device between them, which might be a phone, and so children are not able to access the device for any length of time each day.
“The council are continuing to support schools with the provision of
additional devices through approaching local businesses and engaging in
support from Greater Manchester.”
In terms of the impact multiple lockdowns and school closures have had on children across Trafford, but headteachers have seen that attendance for all year groups, particularly for lower and middle ability children and pupils eligible for pupil premium funding, have fallen behind.
Council documents state reading is an area of concern as the children find it more difficult to comprehend what they are reading. While phonics (speech and understanding) is strong within the majority of schools, all Trafford schools are reporting significant gaps in pupil development in that area.
For schools in more deprived areas of the borough, they are reporting access to books outside of school is limited and there is a lack of engagement in listening to children read at home.
A council document said: “It has been an extremely busy and challenging time for all our school leaders and school staff who have worked incredibly hard to ensure that our schools have remained open, COVID secure and safe with high numbers of children and young people attending each day.
“Where pupils have been unable to attend, we are confident that there is a remote offer in place which children can access at home, although this is certainly not a substitute for the learning and concerns remain that some of Trafford’s children will be significantly disadvantaged.
“Although there have been major adjustments made to accountability measures once again this year, in that data will not be reported once again, schools remain committed to ensuring our children and young people achieve the best possible outcomes they can.”
