Bitesize Research: Impact Of Lockdown On Children's Communication Skills

By Jaya Carrier

I hope everyone has had a great week so far - eyes on the prize for the summer holidays! This week I was interested in reading a report from communication charity I CAN on the impact of lockdown on children’s communication skills - see here for access to the report: https://ican.org.uk/speaking-up-for-the-covid-generation/ Objectives: To evaluate the impact of lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 on children’s communication skills Summary:

The key findings were:

• 1.5 million children are struggling to speak and to understand what people are saying to them as a result of the pandemic.
• The research suggests the two biggest reasons why children are struggling with speaking are firstly not being able to talk face-to-face with their friends (70%), and secondly the overuse of tablets/phones and computers (69%).
• These children are at significant risk of being left behind, and this also has a significant impact on primary to secondary transition.
• 60% of secondary teachers who have pupils behind due to the lockdowns believe that those pupils will not be able to catch up, despite funding efforts from the government

How does this impact me and my practice?:

Some reflection questions arising from this that might be helpful to consider are:

• How can I promote oracy and speaking in my lessons? Am I familiar with frameworks to support this, such as the School 21 oracy framework?
• How am I currently using peer-to-peer talk in my lessons? How can I develop this further?
• How can I ensure effective support for YR6-7 transition in my lessons that look to promote and support speaking and understanding?

If you would like to discuss this further with me - please let me know! I’d be delighted to open up these discussions and conversations.