NEU reveals plans for summer catch-up programme for vulnerable children

The union is calling on the government to fund councils to run local offer programmes to help children recover from the impact of school closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Comprehensive proposals, published today (Thursday 18 June), aim to support vulnerable children in particular to prepare to return to school in September and protect their mental health and wellbeing, the union says.

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The plans are centred around five core elements including personal wellbeing, exercise, arts including crafts, music and dance, partnerships with local libraries and museums and time for personal study with support from local authority staff and youth workers to help children catch-up on missed education.

However, the union has highlighted a need for central government to provide funding so “teachers, youth workers, supply staff, support staff and others who volunteer to lend their expertise and make a local offer possible can be paid appropriately”.

It has also called on the government to provide clear social distancing guidelines for youth organisations which the union says are “currently confused” about how to run services.

The proposals state: “Organisations with a credible track record of holiday provision and outdoor learning such as the Scouts, Guides, Woodcraft Folk, YMCA and YHA may be in a position to contribute to the local offer, but are currently confused about social distancing expectations and when or if they are expected or allowed to resume their operations.”

A summer holiday provision should be provided free for the most vulnerable children including those eligible for free school meals, children identified as vulnerable through joint planning by schools, local authorities and other relevant services and children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities who have carers in need of respite, the NEU says.

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It adds: “These groups of children will have faced particular challenges at home or in terms of accessing a wide range of learning opportunities during lockdown.”

The proposals come following a promise by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to announce details for a “massive catch-up plan” for children this week after the government rowed back on plans to open primary schools for all children for four weeks before the holidays.

Ministers were also forced to U-turn over a decision not to provide eligible children with free school meals over the summer break following a widely backed campaign by Premier League footballer Marcus Rashford and sector leaders including children’s commissioner for England Anne Longfield.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, said the union’s plans “focus on engagement, exercise, creativity, and preparing young people to be ready to learn come September”.

“This ‘local offer’ will also make a vital contribution to children's physical and mental health,” she added.

"The summer of 2020 will be a unique situation, and it is vital we respond to what young people are facing.

"Local councils need advice and funding to decide how children and young people can get outside in supervised and safe situations this summer, given the ongoing importance of social distancing. Local councils are best placed to audit and co-ordinate what could work in their area, given local infection rates, and to devise a realistic plan so that children eligible for free school meals will have access to positive and healthy activities, so they are ready to learn in September.”

The Local Government Association (LGA) backed calls for funding for local authorities to deliver catch-up services over the summer.

Councillor Judith Blake, chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, said: “We agree that councils must be fully funded and have local flexibility to deliver any scheme that aims to provide additional support and services to vulnerable children and young people over the summer.

“Councils are ready to step up and innovate by using cultural facilities to provide space and resources to support learning efforts and physical activities over the summer when most schools will be closed.

“It is vital that the government urgently opens a dialogue with councils and schools to offer clarity for its proposals to help children catch-up on schoolwork they may have missed out on during lockdown, both during the summer and into the autumn, to ensure young people are helped to re-engage with all forms of learning from September."