The impact of COVID-19 related school closures on foundation skills in reception children.

Lead Research Organisation: University of Leeds
Department Name: School of Psychology

Abstract

When primary school children return in the Autumn, they will have missed more than a term of usual school provision. The disruption may exacerbate existing inequalities in academic attainment, and potentially create new ones. This project focuses on the impact of school closures on pupils who are at the important transition point between reception and Year 1.

In reception, through adult-led instruction, children learn literacy, maths, and language skills that provide the foundation for later academic success. Instruction during the school closure period has varied considerably and inequalities in children's learning experiences during the COVID-19 school closures are evident. These include disparities in the support and resources provided by schools (more active forms of support in advantaged areas), access to technology and study space (more limited for disadvantaged families), and the extent to which parents have been able to support their children. Teachers have reported IT problems, difficulty providing usual standards of teaching remotely, and lower engagement in less advantaged children. As a consequence children are now likely to be on different developmental pathways. For some, progress may have maintained or even accelerated, but for others, progress may have stalled and previously learned skills may have been lost.

We urgently need to be able to identify those children whose learning has been most affected by school closures and to better understand the factors that predict poor rates of progress. The usual end of reception EYFS profile has not been completed for this cohort, leaving Year 1 practitioners with limited information to inform support decisions. It is vital that these data are collected as soon as possible. If pupils are unable to recover their rates of learning and secure the foundation skills needed for accessing the school curriculum, then the consequences for their long-term educational outcomes are potentially very serious. In order to provide more differentiated forms of support remotely, in the event of future closures, schools need knowledge of who is likely to be at risk of experiencing the greatest disruption to their learning.

Using data collected by schools before closures, at the start of the Autumn term and later in the spring term, we will investigate the factors that have moderated and mediated pupil progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) goals and reading levels. A large, superdiverse city will serve as the research site to ensure that findings can be generalised to the national context. The data will immediately benefit schools in deciding how to allocate catch-up support. We will convey project findings to policy makers and third sector organisations to inform national strategies aimed at remediating the negative impacts of lockdown post-COVID-19 and addressing inequalities in the event of future school closures.
 
Description In the ICKLE project we were interested in the impact of disruptions to schooling for the youngest children, those who were in reception in 2020 and year 1 in 2021. We followed the children's progress from before schools closed to the majority of pupils for the first time, through the second period of closures to when they were at the end of year 1. We also asked schools to tell us about what resources they provided for remote learning and caregivers to tell us about their experiences of home learning.
Key achievement 1: New knowledge about home learning
Schools and caregivers reported changes between the two periods of disruption, including an increase in the structure of home learning, higher expectations of the amount of schoolwork to be completed, and an increased focus on the continuation of learning. Schools also highlighted the introduction of daily live lessons, more recorded lessons, and more regular updates and feedback. These changes had positive impacts, with more families reporting having a routine for home learning and feeling more supported and motivated for learning.
Key achievement 2: New knowledge about children's attainment and progress during the pandemic
We found that children in reception during the first lockdown made less progress than expected in all the areas, but particularly in Literacy and Mathematics, where a third of children made no progress. Compared to the 2019 averages, significantly fewer children achieved the expected levels, with the largest gap for Literacy. By the end of year 1, and after experiencing a second period of school disruption, there was considerable variation in our sample regarding attainment in the Early Years goals. 36% were exceeding the end of reception level (which is appropriate for the end of year 1), but 45% were still working at that level and 19% continuing to work towards it. Focusing on reading, 68% of our sample were not at the expected level for their age at the end of year 1. This is despite 59% of them making the amount of progress we would expect during this period.
Key achievement 3: Predictors of progress
We identified child and home learning factors that predicted children's attainment and progress in EYFSP and reading levels. Both at the start of year 1 and the end, the strongest predictor of attainment was the child's previous level. Progress during reception and year 1 was predicted by some of the same factors; Children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) made less progress, children at schools providing a wider range of remote learning resources made more progress, but when new activities were provided too often children made less progress., access to hard copy books predicted progress in reading and children who were better able to engage in home learning made more progress. There were some factors that were important in reception but not later in year 1; the child's age, their socio-economic background, whether they were receiving additional classroom support EAL status for reading. It is likely that changes to remote learning provision and the increase in the number of children learning in school, reduced differences between children. Whether or not a child attended school during the second period of disruption was a predictor of progress, with children who were in school making more progress.
Key achievement 4: recommendations for practice & policy
We have been able to make a number of recommendations for practice & policy, which are explained in the section on how this work can be taken forward and used.
Exploitation Route The improvements made to remote learning provision should form the foundation for any future periods of remote learning. In the event of future disruption to schooling, we recommend that schools provide a range of resources, to allow families of young children to select those best fitting their needs, and more physical resources. It is key that new activities are introduced at a measured pace, and not too often. Families also need more guidance as to how to prioritise learning tasks, given that they are balancing home learning with work and childcare commitments. In this cohort of young children, it is clear that the number of children requiring 'catch up' support extends beyond those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds and those with SEND. Consideration needs to be given to expectations of attainment in Key Stage 1: the focus should not be on moving these children along too quickly when there are gaps in their skills and knowledge that need to be filled.

We are currently working with the learning education tam at Leeds City council to apply for impact acceleration funding to maximise the use of our findings.
Sectors Education

 
Description Our findings have contributed to a national body of evidence concerning the impact of covid19 school closures on young children, making a unique contribution to our understanding of the child, school and home factors that affected children's progress during this time. We have disseminated the project findings via two published reports, engaging with non-academic audiences via social media, regional press coverage and tv news broadcasts, bespoke animations, and a number of talks and events. Representatives of policymaking units have attended talks about the project and we contributed to a public accounts enquiry into Covid19 support for children's education. We we awarded some follow-on from from the ESRC IAA account at the University of Leeds to study the impact of our findings and work with the local council and libraries team to develop on-going collaborations. We have also deposited our quantitative data, making it available for use by other researchers.
First Year Of Impact 2022
Sector Education
Impact Types Societal

 
Description Evidence submitted to the House of Commons Committee of public accounts enquiry: COVID-19: Support for children's education
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
URL https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/23815/html/
 
Description ESRC IAA award University of Leeds: Impact of Covid on Key Learning and Education (ICKLE) - Stakeholder consultation and co-production of resources
Amount £15,000 (GBP)
Organisation Economic and Social Research Council 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2022 
End 03/2023
 
Description Thomas Ward PhD Scholarship: Reception Book Buddies: developing and evaluating a community based intervention to promote shared book reading and library use at the transition into primary school.
Amount £90,000 (GBP)
Organisation University of Leeds 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2023 
End 10/2026
 
Title Early Years Pupil Performance Data During COVID-19, 2020-2021 
Description This is the data of 10 English primary schools, provided during the covid-19 lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. The longitudinal data consists of 452 EYFS pupils at time 1, and 442 children at time 2, after they progress into year 1. Pupil data includes a range of Early Years Goals, demographic data, and reading levels. School level data consists of provision of lessons, activities, resources and contact with home during the lockdowns. The data also includes survey responses from caregivers (t1 n=190, t2 n = 151) to the participating pupils, who provide information on educational practices as home during the lockdowns. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2022 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact 66 data downloads and 165 page views since this item was published 
URL https://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/855626/
 
Description Animation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact The University of Leeds public engagement team worked with the project team to create a short animation based on the project findings (from final report 2), that is hosted on YouTube. This will help us to reach a wider audience.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMLqbEUPjQ4
 
Description Be Curious LATES: Pioneering Pandemic Research 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Dr Cat Davies was part of this edition of Be Curious Lates: Pioneering Pandemic Research. These are exclusive events for grown-ups to get to grips with everything from the world-leading to the wondrous research that goes on inside a University. The video has been viewed over 200 times.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-UBfyU_n7A
 
Description CEPEO seminar 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Dr Hannah Nash was invited to talk about the interim findings from the ICKLE project as part of the online seminar series hosted by the Centre for Education policy and equalising opportunities (based at UCL). There were over 50 attendees including policymakers, researchers and practitioners and the talk was followed by some interesting comments and questions. The talk was recorded and is available as a podcast and as a video on the CEPEO website.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/events/2021/apr/virtual-event-impact-covid-19-key-learning-and-education-i...
 
Description EEF webinar: internal seminar series 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Third sector organisations
Results and Impact Dr Hannah Nash delivered a webinar on the ICKLE project's interim findings as part of the EEF's seminar series.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description ESRC and GSR Actionable Insights Seminar Series 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Dr Hannah Nash presented key interim findings and associated recommendations as part of the ESRC GSR Actionable Insights Seminar Series "Effective public services - addressing learning loss and educational inequalities". There were over 150 attendees from a range of government departments, public bodies and devolved authorities. The talks were recorded for access by the Government's Policy Profession Unit. Feedback was reported to be positive.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description ICKLE: Engaging Family Audiences animation 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact As part of our follow-on funding (ESRC IAA IMPACT AWARD) we have created a short animation for families, with the aim of gaining their feedback on some of our findings.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=molqOKU8aCE
 
Description Leeds Libraries event 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact We were invited to attend a Leeds libraries event aimed at families with young children - Reception Reading Stars - Mini-festival - 25/10/22. We helped to produce a leaflet on shared reading that was translated into 10 languages and talked to families about the importance of shared reading.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://ickle.leeds.ac.uk/news/reception-reading-stars-mini-festival-25-10-22/
 
Description Local press coverage in Leeds Live 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact An article was published on the Leeds Live website
"Two-thirds of Leeds six-year-olds struggling in school because of Covid lockdown disruption"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-news/two-thirds-leeds-six-year-23069756
 
Description NALDIC talk 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Dr Paula Clarke gave a talk to the Yorkshire and Humberside NALDIC group focusing on the reading level data and the progress of children with EAL.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description NIESR Roundtable 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This was a roundtable organised by NIESR bringing together four projects focusing on the impact of Covid-19 on schools and children. It was hosted online and attended by over 50 researchers, practitioners, funders, charities & policymakers. There were four talks followed by discussion.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Newcastle University talk 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Dr Paula Clarke & Dr Hannah Nash gave a joint presentation to academics from the Speech and Language Sciences department at the University of Newcastle.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Press release 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact We worked with the University press office to organise a piece about the project in the Yorkshire Post at the beginning of the project to help with recruitment of schools.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/education/leeds-schools-university-study-learn-lessons-lockdo...
 
Description Press release for the final reports 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact The University of Leeds press office produced a press release based on the final reports from the ICKLE project

"Pandemic leaves two thirds of six-year-olds falling behind"
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.leeds.ac.uk/main-index/news/article/5022/pandemic-leaves-two-thirds-of-six-year-olds-fal...
 
Description Project covered on BBC 1 Yorkshire & North Midlands morning and lunchtime news broadcasts 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact BBC 1 Yorkshire and North Midlands • 11th Feb, 2022 • Broadcast
Disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has left two-thirds of Leeds' six-year-olds behind in their development, according to research by the University of Leeds. Lead author Dr Hannah Nash (Psychology) is quoted in the bulletin. The story was also mentioned in local radio news updates, BBC Radio Leeds & Greatest Hits Leeds
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Project twitter account 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact We have created a twitter account for the project. Initially to help with recruitment and then with dissemination.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://twitter.com/ickleproject?lang=en-gb
 
Description Project website 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact We have created a project website to help with recruiting schools and then to disseminate project findings to schools, policy makers, the media, and the general public.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://ickle.leeds.ac.uk/
 
Description Strong Families Around the World Surviving Pandemic 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Dr Hannah Nash was invited to give a talk about the interim findings of the ICKLE project at this international event, attended by researchers, practitioners and other interested parties.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://cpmh.psikologi.ugm.ac.id/strong-families-around-the-world-surviving-the-pandemic-an-internat...
 
Description Yorkshire post article 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact The ICKLE project was mentioned in an article in the Yorkshire post 10th October 2022
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022