Embrace flexible schooling to tackle lost learning crisis

Many things changed forever following that moment. One of them is how education is delivered. The creation of online learning platforms and hybrid teaching methods showed how technology could be utilised to deliver a good quality of education. Many parents became hands-on “teachers” to supplement the support offered by schools while limitations on spending time outside meant families combined a walk in the park with outdoor learning and play. As daunting as it was for most parents, it opened the eyes of many to new ways of learning.

The change in relationships with parents is a key factor raised by education leaders in the rising number of children missing education (Analysis). At the recent “Lost Learning” conference, organised by CYP Now and therapeutic education provider TCES, delegates heard how 100,000 children regularly miss education equating to 32 million days of lost learning. There are many factors for this including rising levels of childhood trauma, poverty and unmet special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), but changes in expectations and attitudes of parents towards school was also cited by educators.