'Mental health and holidays' affecting attendance

Children who moved to secondary school in 2020 had less "transition time"

Home learning during the Covid lockdown meant many children in Bradford struggled to transition from primary to secondary school, a report has found.

The report into school performance in the district said lockdown also led to some families feeling it was "less important to send children to school" – resulting in poor attendance levels.

At a meeting of Bradford Council's children's scrutiny committee last month, a children's services boss said disrupted transitions had a bad effect on test results.

The report said: "Educational outcomes for 2024 are not where they need to be (and reflect a historical trend), but are better at primary than at secondary level."

It added: "It is clear that the strategies, in conjunction with the strategies that schools themselves employ, are having more of an impact on primaries than on secondaries, a situation which is also compounded by the majority of secondary schools in Bradford being academies."

Children who made the transition to secondary school during lockdown are now reaching GCSE level.

'No transition'

Referring to the impact of lockdown on these children, the report said: "The post-pandemic landscape has made poor attendance, particularly in secondary schools, even more challenging, both nationally and regionally and in Bradford.

"There has been an increase in lack of engagement with schools amongst the most vulnerable children and families and a parental perception amongst some that it is less important to send children to school, with many different reasons for this view, ranging from concerns over mental health to cheaper holidays in term time."

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said at the meeting, Marium Haque, the council's director of children's services, said: "Many children make the move successfully, but many don't make that move very well.

"Many children struggle to engage, that is why we see a massive drop-off in performance and exclusions, suspensions and absence figures shooting up."

She said there was no opportunity for children to have transition time from primary to secondary school during lockdown.

Instead, the council provided each Year 6 pupil in 2020 with a book - Boy 87 by Ele Fountain - to help with the process.

The children discussed the book in their final year of primary school, as well as their first year of secondary school.

Ms Haque said: "This became really instrumental in supporting children at this time."

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