Chapter 5: Give every child the best start in life

Giving every child the best start in life is a central element of our strategy to ensure everyone in Gateshead thrives. Thankfully, evidence has shown that children and young people have the lowest clinical risk from Covid.

Nevertheless, they have experienced more than a year's disruption at arguably the most critical time of life for their development. Children and young people across Gateshead made considerable sacrifices to protect those older people in our community.

We need to ensure, as we move into recovery, that these sacrifices are acknowledged, and that their generation is prioritised. 

Early childhood, starting from conception to the age of two - the first 1,000 days, is a period when 90 per cent of brain development takes place which and is a crucial time for children's physical, cognitive, emotional and social development. What happens at this time in a child's life can have an impact on their adult lives. (House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee. (2019) First 1000 days of Life, Thirteenth Report of Session 2017-19. Parliament first 1000 days of life (opens new window))

At times during the pandemic, new parents have been unable to access face-to-face services or support from family and friends. They have experienced increased stresses, and opportunities for young families to socialise have been limited. We do not know yet how the pandemic has impacted the development of our youngest residents. 

The take-up of childcare has increased gradually since 1 June 2020; however, data shows that it has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, both in Gateshead and nationally. This is particularly evident in the number of eligible two year old children accessing their 15 hours free childcare entitlement, the eligibility criteria for which focuses on the most disadvantaged children. 5% fewer eligible children accessed their place in January 2021, than in January 2019.

We know that the early years are a crucial stage for improving life chances, with the poorest children already 11 months on average behind their better-off peers before they start school. Attending high quality early years provision provides a vital opportunity to narrow this gap before children start school.

Early Years providers are reporting that children's personal, social and emotional development, as well as their speech, language and communication skills are, in many cases, delayed as a result of the pandemic. Whilst planned support will help many of the children to reach typical levels of development before they reach statutory school age, this will not always be the case. Referrals to both health and education support services have increased significantly, often resulting in long waiting lists, and limited interventions. 
Sue Waugh, Senior Inspector, Gateshead Council 

New parents have missed out on that vital support. Users of the group have said that other users and the volunteers are 'like sisters' giving advice on health and wellbeing, issues that they had been missing out on during the pandemic.

Throughout the pandemic a lot of first time and single parents felt isolated and didn't know what support was available. Once they were able to come back to St. Chad's, they could again find that information. Socialisation is such an important part of passing on knowledge and information, so to have that back is amazing. 
Jemma Logan, Volunteer, St. Chad's Community Project 

Even before Covid, around 30% of children in the UK were living in poverty, which is an enormous source of stress for families. We know that when parents are overwhelmed by stress, they can struggle to meet the basic emotional and physical needs of their children. This, in turn, can result in adverse effects on a child's physical, emotional and social development. It can impact the development of their brain and immune system, leading to susceptibility to mental health problems and chronic disease, later on in life. (Marmot, M., Allen, J., Boyce, T., Goldblatt, P and Morrison, J. (2020) Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 years on. London: Institute of Health Equity. Fair society healthy live the marmot review (opens new window)) 

Covid-19 has accelerated existing stressors, and added new ones, directly impacting the quality of family life. These include:

• the loss or reduction of family network
• direct experience of loss and bereavement
• increased financial hardship
• interruption to schooling limited access to leisure opportunities, recreational activity and interaction with peers
• mental health difficulties in children and families
• increases in relationship distress as a result of issues such as maintaining contact/co-parenting arrangements, overcrowding, increased alcohol consumption, and increased domestic violence.

We know that adverse childhood experiences have been found to have lifelong impacts on health and behaviour, and there are concerns that problems could be stored up, for some children and young people, and for generations to come. 

Liz* had some pre-pandemic mental health issues alongside the ever-increasing pressures of the pandemic.

She already had pressures of a small household with limited living space for four children of varied ages, who were all coming into contact with Covid-19 and having to constantly self isolate. She contracted Covid-19 herself and was finding it difficult to support the children when feeling so unwell. The self-isolation periods put immense pressure on the family. The team at the hub remained in regular contact with emergency food parcels, gas and electricity support and gave ongoing advice on how to help manage Covid-19 restrictions and isolation periods.

Liz also struggled with the pressures of home schooling alongside financial pressures. With one child suffering from ADHD behavioural problems, the lockdown periods were difficult. The team completed a referral to the counselling service for ongoing support and befriending. Liz is making good progress with the ongoing support set up during Covid-19 lockdown.
*Name changed to protect anonymity.  

Shielding Hub, Gateshead.  

Over the course of the pandemic, Children's Services have seen significant increase in demand to support the most vulnerable children in Gateshead (similar to other authorities regionally and nationally). 

An additional 800 contacts were made to children in social care (a rise of 14%)  

Early help services were supporting100 more children (a rise of 17%)  

The number of children and young people aged 0-25 years with an Education, Health and Care Plan in Gateshead increased by around12%  

An additional 147 children were being supported by the Service (a rise of 10%) 

14% more children needed to be brought into care, resulting in the highest ever number of children in our care, peaking at454(a rise of 10%)  

More of the children in our care were protected by Court Orders, with Interim and Full Care Orders increasing by 13%  

There were 133 additional children supported as a child in need (a rise of 31%) 

Since March 2021, the demand for support from Children's Services has continued to increase significantly, as the pandemic continues. 

There has been a noted impact of Covid on Children's Services and the referrals we have received.

Firstly, we have had an increase demand for services and complexity of referrals has risen. Having spoken to our multi-agency partners we know that this has been the case for health services and police.

During the restrictions we found an increase in referrals in relation to mental health, many of these families has not been previously known to Children's Services. An example is a mother who was sectioned under the mental health act and required assistance to care for her child.

Families have struggled with the lockdowns and restrictions in place and have missed the support they would usually receive from within the community or from families/friends.

Young people have struggled to manage the restrictions and impact on their education with schools being closed and we have seen an increase in referrals in relation this. Feedback from families is that some struggled to manage support services suddenly not being available face to face.  
Suzanne Storey, Service Manager, Gateshead Council 

Most children have missed months of education. However, the impact of this has been different, and there have been marked inequalities in learning hours, digital access and completion of homework. 

Early Help Services observed limited access to devices and internet connectivity for sections of the community, significantly impacting on students' capacity to complete online work This was especially prevalent in larger households of three or more children where devices were often shared and more likely to be broken. School attendance was impacted by a range of factors, including reluctance to use public transport, difficulty resuming family routines, increased anxiety at the risks of returning to a public environment and specific concerns for children and young people providing a carer role for parents or siblings. 
Gavin Bradshaw, Service Manager - Early Help Services, Gateshead Council 

Early Years children have missed out hugely on the school experience. The 'lockdowns' have meant that the youngest children have not had the chances to socialise, develop language skills or to play with learning resources as they normally would. You can see the difficulties some children have, which is unusual for us, in the way they struggle to share toys and resolve conflict. The knock-on effect will be felt by the youngest pupils for years to come.

 

Keeping children in bubbles last year meant that our younger children have not had the chance to mix with older children across the school. The losses children have had around their social skill development, and the lost learning, leading to academic gaps will take a long time to put right - you can't just put a plaster on things like that and think it will fix quickly.
 

The children in Year 3 haven't had a full year in school since Reception, where the curriculum learning is very different as it is play based. Children are trying to put the pieces of Year 1 and Year 2 into our Year 3 curriculum and make sense of it. If you try to do too much, too quickly, the pressure on the children is immense. It has to be done slowly and sensibly. You aren't going to catch up the gaps in two years' learning in just a few months.
 

Many children are behind where they are expected to be nationally. It's not surprising as before the summer holidays, we regularly had a third of children out of school, whether they had been 'pinged', had symptoms or parents/carers were anxious. This just simply increased the gaps in learning.
 

Some families, as we have heard nationally, struggled with home-schooling. They were unable to do it to the full if they were working at home at the same time. Other families were too worried, because of the risk of Covid, to bring their children into school.
 

The digital divide has been a massive issue for our families. We knew there were children we had to get into school as they couldn't access learning digitally, they did not have the right equipment, skills or time. We ensured that all children with Special Educational needs, who needed specialist support, and our vulnerable and EAL (English as an Additional Language) children were learning with us in school, if medically appropriate.
 

The need for safety has led to increased anxiety in adults and this is quickly picked up by children. On many occasions, where we were informed that a child had tested positive for Covid-19, we then had to inform all their close contacts that they would have to stay at home for the next 10 days. I knocked on classroom doors and you would see faces fall, the realisation that they were going to be sent home - I felt sick every time. We had many children crying as they left, but we had to get them home to reduce risk of transmission. 
 

Devices from the government didn't arrive at the right time. We spent days looking at different home learning platforms which could be accessed by children - no matter what kind of device was used. We set up a relatively easy to access home learning platform and gave tutorials on how to navigate it. We also photocopied hard packs for children and invited parents/carers and children to school each week to pick them up. We talked about buying textbooks for children, but staff felt these wouldn't be bespoke enough for the individual needs of our children. 
Paul Harris, Headteacher, Gateshead Council 

Extracts from Health and Wellbeing Consultation carried out by Youth Focus North East on behalf of Gateshead Council  

Some young people have found some positives as well as negatives during lockdowns and social restrictions.  

How did you feel during lockdown?

Trapped

Claustrophobic

Loved the peace - space

Sick of the same four walls

Worried about the future 

What was it like?

No routine

Got a new focus

Unable to celebrate

Not giving Nana a hug

Losing my job

Good times at home with my family 

Some young people said...  

Not the life changing event many adults/professionals have experienced.  

A positive experience because they were not in the spaces and places where they were judged and bullied for example schools and colleges.  

Connections were seen in a new light - the difference family, friends and being part of other groups really made.  

But for others...  

Missed the support from organisations and struggled with not being able to go to the places they used to.  

Felt lost, frustrated and isolated because interactions and connections had disappeared.  

Relationships brought challenge - the claustrophobia of being in the same four walls with the same people day after day. 

We need to protect early intervention and prevention services incorporating a broad eligibility for support in universal, open, community based settings.  

Some forms of information and advice can be provided on digital platforms, but cannot replace or dilute the importance of face-to-face support in holding conversations with our most vulnerable residents.  

The early identification and action on the emotional wellbeing needs of children and young people should become a shared, strategic priority across services/partnerships.  

There is a clear need to build on the existing statutory and community networks to help families meet basic needs - food, utilities, collecting prescriptions, welfare contact and more.

Gavin Bradshaw, Service Manager - Early Help Services, Gateshead Council 

Next - Chapter 6: Enable all children, young people and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives