On the 11th of March 2020, the World Health Organisation declared a global pandemic due to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, later defined as COVID-19 (WHO, 2021). The pandemic disrupted many aspects of society but greatly impacted how primary school children were educated, with many children needing to learn from home (Chattopadhyay et al., 2022). This study aimed to examine the impact on children in UK primary schools from the perspective of school staff. As previous research often focussed on children, parents, teachers and headteachers, this study aimed at gaining the opinions and viewpoints of all staff working at primary schools, including lunchtime supervisors and administrative managers. To achieve this, an electronic questionnaire was circulated through emails sent directly to schools and distributed online through closed social media groups. The data from this research comes from ninety-three participants and found that children’s personal, social, and emotional development had been most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with their communication and language skills. Another gap identified from previous research was whether there were any positive outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic, as research often reported a negative impact on children. This research found positive outcomes for children, such as increased technology skills and a better understanding of good hygiene practices. Although this study adds to the literature on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted children, further studies are needed to monitor the longer-lasting impact caused by the disruption due the pandemic.
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Lindars, Matthew
Rights Holders: Lindars, Matthew Supervisors: Capewell, Carmel
School of Education, Humanities and Languages
MA Education
2023
© Lindars, Matthew Published by Oxford Brookes UniversityAll rights reserved