Coronavirus daily update: Wednesday 24 June
Fiona Simpson
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
More than one million children are now attending schools after they reopened to more pupils on 1 June, latest government figures show.
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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.
New school attendance figures released
Just 12.2 per cent of school-aged children attended school on 18 June after settings reopened to some year groups on 1 June, new Department for Education figures show.
Some 92 per cent of settings were open “in some capacity”, the report states, highlighting that 22 per cent of children with an education, health and care plan attended.
The early years sector saw 282,000 children attend settings - 17 per cent of those who would normally attend, DfE said.
Hundreds of young offenders ‘prosecuted as adults’
Hundreds of young offenders face being convicted as adults due to delays in the criminal justice system caused by the coronavirus crisis, new research shows.
A new report, published by the Youth Justice Legal Centre (YJLC), says there could be as many as 1,400 young people that will end up being prosecuted as adults as a result of delays in the criminal justice system exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Covid-19 ‘worsens apprenticeship chances for disadvantaged young people’
The coronavirus crisis is likely to worsen youth unemployment in the UK, a new report warns, highlighting that disadvantaged young people are already being ‘failed by the apprenticeship system’.
Disadvantaged young people taking up apprenticeships has declined by 36 per cent compared with figures from 2015/16, the Social Mobility Commission has said, stating that: “The pandemic is likely to have made the disadvantage gap worse. There needs to be urgent consideration of the impact of the apprenticeship levy on social mobility outcomes.”
DfE behaviour hub scheme delayed
The Department for Education’s new behaviour hub scheme has been delayed until spring next year due to the coronavirus crisis, the government has said.
The scheme, which was originally due to launch in September, will see “exemplary” schools paired with “struggling” settings to share examples of good behaviour.
The department will delay appointing so-called lead schools and multi-academy trusts until spring 2021.
#Chances4Children: Young people in Sheffield gain confidence through poetry
Looked-after children in Sheffield are gaining confidence and learning to express themselves thanks to a poetry writing initiative run during the pandemic lockdown.
Sheffield’s Children in Care Council have been working with author and Sheffield Writer in Residence Nik Perring, and musician Dominic Heslop, over the lockdown period to create a book of poems and launch a writing competition.
This work has been highlighted as part of CYP Now’s #Chances4Children campaign. Find out more here.
