Children’s recovery from the pandemic is being held back by a workforce crisis in schools, colleges and early years, with children who have special education needs among those worst affected, according to England’s schools inspectorate, Ofsted.
Publishing her annual report on Tuesday, Ofsted’s chief inspector, Amanda Spielman, said the Covid pandemic continued to “cast a long shadow” over children’s education and social care, and despite teachers’ best efforts, recovery was “far from complete”.
Staffing problems at all levels of children’s education and social care were compounding problems that stand in the way of a full recovery, Ofsted said, with schools struggling to recruit teaching assistants to help with lost learning, and nurseries losing early years workers to better paid jobs in retail and hospitality.
Children are also losing out on sports, drama, music and other enrichment activities, as schools continue to experience staff absence due to Covid, and intervention for children who need additional help has been delayed due to fewer support staff.
