Education, Children and Young People Committee
Feedback from 1st December meeting on Covid 19 overall impact on Children and Young People
Joint letter with further information from COSLA, ADES and Social Work Scotland
Education, Children and Young People Committee Members,
The impact of the pandemic upon children and young people with additional support needs, care-experienced young people and those from a background of socio- economic disadvantaged backgrounds
We are writing to you following the evidence session on 1st December 2021.
During the session, we were asked to provide further details on teacher numbers in schools, and on level of re-engagement with education amongst those for whom the pandemic had resulted in better engagement with learning. The COSLA Local Government Employers team and Social Work Scotland have provided the information available in annex B.
We know that children and young people with additional support needs and their families, care-experienced young people and those from a background of socio-economic disadvantaged backgrounds are a priority for the committee. The work Local Government is undertaking with partners to support these children, young people and their families and overcome the barriers often presented as a result of their experiences is important, and even more so as we recover from the pandemic. To that end, we have set out in annex A some of the key points we wished to make during the committee session.
We had been asked to attend as officers, representing COSLA, ADES and Social Work Scotland, to participate in an evidence session on “the impact of the pandemic upon children and young people with additional support needs, care-experienced young people and those from a background of socio-economic disadvantage”. In the event, the committee session did not focus on these specific areas. It would be helpful in future if you could let us know if there is to be a change in topic, to ensure that officers attending are prepared in the areas the committee wish to cover.
We hope this is helpful in further informing the committee on the needs of children, young people and their families, and we would be happy to speak further with the committee on those matters if desired.
Yours sincerely,
Laura Caven, COSLA
Jennifer King, ADES
Joan Tranent, Social Work Scotland
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