School attendances high in St Helens despite Covid impact

As of November 27, the attendance rate in St Helens was 85.5 per cent, above the North West average of 82.25 per cent and the national average of 79.79 per cent.

Attendance of children and young people with EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) was 76.1 per cent, which is above the national average but just below the North West average.

Attendance of children with a social worker is also slightly below the North West average but above national average.

The attendance figures was shared with councillors on St Helens Borough Council’s children and young people services scrutiny committee on Monday.

Jo Davies, the council’s assistant director for education and learning, told councillors that schools have achieved high attendance levels despite being “significantly impacted on”.

She said that almost every setting has been impacted by bubbles and individuals having to isolate.

Separate data compiled by the local authority on Wednesday, December 2 showed that a total of 20 educational settings, including several secondaries and St Helens College, reported positive cases among pupils or staff.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, it’s caused disruption to teaching and learning,” Ms Davies said of the impact of Covid-19 on Monday.

“I think staff have worked incredibly hard to ensure blended learning is in place.

“But nobody thinks that that can replace face-to-face learning that children and young people get when they attend school.”

During the autumn term, the council’s school effectiveness consulted with school leaders, with a number of key themes emerging from the talks.

Ms Davies said some school leaders reflected that while it is relatively easy to catch-up on lost learning on a surface level, attaining a greater depth is proving more challenging.

And while schools feel the majority of children have adapted well, nearly all primary leaders expressed concerns on the impact of lockdown on the physical health of children.

Ms Davies said a key theme that came out of the discussions has been around wellbeing of staff, who have been working under “immense pressure”.

Cllr Kate Groucutt, cabinet member for education, skills and business, said that we are coming to the end of an “incredibly difficult term”.

The Labour councillor said the authority will review the data at the end of term, but told the committee that it “does feel like things are improving”.

Cllr Kate Groucutt, St Helens Borough Council’s cabinet member for education, skills and business

Cllr Groucutt said: “The attendance data Jo (Davies) highlighted from last week, 85 per cent of children and young people in school is fantastic.

“And I feel that we made the right decision in working very cooperatively with our schools to keep them open as much as possible.

“And I do worry that if we had, as some people wanted to, shut schools for a fortnight as part of the lockdown, we would be in an even worse position now with some of the concerns we’ve got.

“So I’m really glad that our heads have been clear that they’ll do whatever they can to keep schools open while addressing the challenges around new routines, around cleaning, around social distancing.”

Below is a list of schools that reported positive cases December 2. The data is recorded on one day in the middle of the week to provide a snapshot in time.

Staff includes custodial, administrative and teaching staff.