Essex school leader says Covid lockdowns have impacted kids communication skills
Lockdowns meant children weren't interacting with as many people as usual
The manager of three primary schools in Essex has said lockdown may have hampered children's communication abilities as they couldn't interact with other people as much.
Rebecca Leek is responsible for three schools across Rayleigh and Wickford, as CEO of the South Essex Alliance Multi-Academy Trust: "Something that we talk about in our schools charter is that every interaction is an intervention.
"Every moment when two humans cross paths is valuable and every conversation that people have helps, whether it's between peers - children to children - or between an adult and a child.
"We value the power of those conversations, but when we were in lockdown, we weren't having them, so there has been an impact on children."
She says not all children will have been affected the same way: "It's not across the board. Some children have flourished and and have done really well...
"But some children may not have siblings, may not have liked online remote learning, and won't have interacted with their friends as much. That will then impact their social skills, and communication skills."
This comes as two thirds of primary schools have signed up to receive extra support so pupils can catch up with their language skills post-pandemic.
An estimated 90,000 reception-age children have received support since August 2020 and a further 11,000 pupils will now get help too, as more schools continue to sign up.