Coronavirus daily round-up: Wednesday 9 December
Isabella McRae
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Schools can close a day early for Christmas to give teachers “a proper break”, schools minister Nick Gibb has said.
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Each day, CYP Now will summarise the key issues affecting the children and families sector as it tackles the effects of the pandemic. The daily update signposts children’s services practitioners and leaders to the latest developments, expert views, advice and resources.
Schools ‘can close early for Christmas’
Headteachers have been given the go ahead to schedule an inset day next Friday (18 December) to ensure teaching staff do not have to deal with track and trace issues over Christmas, schools minister Nick Gibb has said.
Even if they did not originally have an inset day scheduled, schools can now close early to give staff six days to deal with any additional track and trace issues before Christmas Eve.
Speaking at a virtual session of the education select committee, Gibb added that teachers deserved a “proper break”.
Destitution rising at ‘appalling’ rates before pandemic
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has reported dramatically increasing rates of destitution evident before the pandemic.
Around 2.4 million people faced destitution in 2019, a 54 per cent increase since 2017, research shows. Among these were 550,000 children, a rise of 52 per cent in the same time period.
Commenting on the JRF’s research, Paul Noblet, Centerpoint’s head of public affairs, called for extra support measures to be put in place due to rising levels of poverty and unemployment caused by Covid-19 restrictions.
"Against a backdrop of 15 per cent youth unemployment and a shortage of affordable homes, it is crucial that the government retains the £20 per week Universal Credit increase and continues to enable people to claim more in benefits.
"If the government withdraws additional financial support for those at risk of homelessness and rough sleeping too soon, we will be putting thousands of young people at risk and be storing up problems for the future,” he said.
Universities urged to support care leavers over Christmas break
A coalition of organisations supporting care leavers have called on universities to support care experienced students over the Christmas break.
Spectra, Become, Stand Alone, NNECL and the Unite Foundation have written an open letter to all vice chancellors at UK universities to urge them to consider the needs of care leavers during the holidays.
Thousands of students across the country live without family in student accommodation and halls all year round. Coronavirus restrictions have made it more difficult to support these students on campus, the organisations said.
Recommendations to universities include clear communication with students about availability of coronavirus testing and university services. It is advised that study spaces, libraries and labs remain open to students who are staying on campus this Christmas season.
Charity duo help 240 families with disabled children stay active during the pandemic
Almost half (45 per cent) of disabled children have faced a decline in their physical health over the course of 2020, with seven in 10 unable to access their usual therapies, new research shows.
Two experienced coaches, Louise Assioun and Sue Morrison, who run Learning United, Sports Unlimited (LUSU), have set out to inspire change by helping families with disabled children keep fit from home.
Assioun and Morrison have given more than 100 hours of virtual support to families with disabled children, and they have delivered kit bags to more than 240 families during the pandemic.
Morrison said: “The social impact of Covid-19 has been vast for everyone, but particularly disabled people. Many of us saw our activity levels drop as a result of the first lockdown, for example, but the activity gap widened for those with a disability, impairment or learning difficulty.”
