Teachers using sign language with pupils after lockdown harmed speech, report finds

Teachers are being forced to improvise with sign language to communicate with primary school pupils whose language skills have been severely impacted by lockdowns, according to a new report.

The study by The Association of School and College Leaders, a teaching union, found the pandemic had left a generation of children with major developmental issues, including a lack of toilet training, anxiety in social spaces and depression.

The report, written by Tim Oates who is group director of Cambridge University Press and Assessment, found the recovery from lockdowns would take five to 10 years to work its way through the education system.

“It will be a long slog, not a walk in the park,” Prof Oates said.

“There are serious dangers in simply assuming that schools are ‘back to normal’ – they are not – and assuming they will easily be able to meet the needs of young people affected by lockdowns and pandemic.”

The pandemic affected different cohorts of pupils in different ways, the report found.

‘Severely underdeveloped language’

It said teachers were “needing to improvise with sign language for five-year-olds with severely underdeveloped language to older children absent through anxiety”.

“While secondary schools are reporting an increase in reading difficulties among Year 7 pupils, poor personal organisation and challenging patterns of interaction, staff in primary schools are reporting very serious problems of arrested language development, lack of toilet training, anxiety in being in social spaces, and depressed executive function,” it said.

“These problems are real, widespread and significant.

“We should urgently apply remedies to these problems and ensure the problems are diminished – hopefully to zero – rather than accept and accommodate them.”

The report draws upon Cambridge’s own research on the impact of lockdowns on the “COVID generation” and recommends better assessment and monitoring to understand how each child has been affected and strategies to improve performance.

Dealing with the reality

Prof Oates warned that dealing with the impact of the pandemic will require a “protracted, grinding effort” and an evidence-driven response co-designed by schools, unions and the Government.

Pepe Di’lasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the report showed that while the headlines had moved on from COVID-19, the impact on schools and children remained a day-to-day reality.

“Schools continue to see high rates of pupil absence and they have many pupils with complex needs. At the same time they are struggling with severe budget pressures, staff shortages and a special educational needs system on the brink of collapse,” he said.

“We urge the new government to work with us on developing targeted, well-funded policies that respond to the challenges outlined in this report.”