Sue Rogers, Head of Practice Development at Family Action, recently published an article in the Bradford local Telegraph and Argus, shedding light on the ongoing impact COVID-19 persists to have on child development, both locally within Bradford and nationally.
Sue states that “A lack of socialisation and reduced income during the pandemic impacted children and families in many ways.”
Statistics show that 1,507 children in Bradford between the ages of two and two and a half were seen by a health visitor between 2023-24.
Of these children, 82% met or exceeded the expected level of development for communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving, and personal-social skills. This is below the pre-pandemic level of 95% in 2018-19.’ (Office for Health and Improvement Disparities)
Nationally, development levels are still not above or equivalent to pre pandemic levels of 83% in 2018-19, demonstrating the lasting damage the pandemic has had on children’s health, development and wellbeing.
Christian Bunting, Director of 50 Things to Do, comments on our ongoing commitment to reducing the disparities we see in child development both at a local and national level:
“With our institute for early years team working towards improving life chances for children following the COVID-19 pandemic, our 50 Things to Do Before You’re Five and Five to Eleven initiatives [...] collaborate to provide equal life chances for all children. We acknowledge how disruptive the pandemic has been, presenting us with significant issues and challenges in supporting children from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as:
- Language and communication
- Responding to the needs of SEND and neurodiverse children.”
Sue further details the changes to early years prompted by the pandemic, "Many services around the family now work in different ways, offering online self-help and complex systems that people need to navigate.”
Bunting has stated, “50 Things utilises these advancements with our app offering families opportunities for play and learning both indoors and outdoors. It is a free and simple guide working alongside parents to encourage both development and involvement within their local community. However, we understand the need for contact with families to ensure them that we are committed to supporting their children’s development. Our 50 Things to do Project Officers specifically focus on areas of high-level poverty in Bradford and share the early years opportunities available to families through necessary face-to-face communication. We, as an organisation, are thrilled to see signs of positivity with the responses to 50 Things to Do, however, there is still an immense amount of work to be done in relation to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic for children and families in areas of deprivation.”
To read the full Sue Rogers’ T&A article, ‘Childhood Development in Bradford worse than pre-pandemic levels’, please click the link here.
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