The Government has continuously said throughout the pandemic that vulnerable students are their priority.
Schools have remained open for vulnerable children and those children whose parents are keyworkers. However many vulnerable children have not attended.
Issues such as digital poverty have arisen, and while schools return to normal the question remains: are you caring for vulnerable students?
Only 5% of vulnerable children in schools
The children’s commissioner said in April that of vulnerable children with the ability to attend school during the lockdown, only 5% of places were being taken up.
There was also issues with the voucher system for students eligible for free school meals. Some schools opted instead to deliver lunches to children by hand instead of wait for the vouchers.
Meanwhile a lack of internet access and households not owning devices has made it impossible in some cases for them to attend classes.
The Government has pledged laptops to children who need them, but many of these will not be delivered until the end of June.
Alarming number of issues
The expectation on safeguarding has dramatically fallen during the pandemic, causing an ‘alarming number of issues’ according to three charities.
According to the Observer, significant numbers of trafficked and unaccompanied children have gone missing since the start of lockdown.
65 vital legal protections for youngsters in care were removed in the implementation of coronavirus legislation.
Eleanor Brown, managing director for Caras, which supports south London asylum seekers, said:
We have seen a notable increase in the number of young people who have gone missing or experienced homelessness as a result of the lack of contact they have had with statutory services.
We are seeing alarming outcomes.
How EDLounge can help
EDClass is designed to support vulnerable students.
Our system is here for students unsuited to mainstream classrooms: whether that is due to exclusion, mental health, school-phobia or long-term illness. Our engaging learning platform has helped re-engage students lost in education.
More than 11,000 lessons are available to help students catch up.
Safeguarding is an essential of our system, with facilities including alert mechanisms, access to enhanced DBS checked teachers and eyes-on learning. We work closely with your schools Designated Safeguarding Lead to ensure the school is aware of any issues.
A sophisticated tracking programme means you can track pupil attendance and also student progress. Tracking includes reading of learning materials, answers to assessments, quizzes and other tasks.
You can tailor feedback based on these reports to meet students’ needs.
For more information click here, call 01909 568 338.
