These bulletins are a space to share how the Fair Education Alliance and our wider networks are mobilising to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the most disadvantaged young people. Following on from last weeks' bulletin we have now changed from daily to weekly updates in order to ensure that they remain impactful.
We will continue to share how the alliance is tackling these issues in the future bulletins and if you want to look back on what has already happened, you can do so here.
How the alliance and beyond is preparing to go forward from COVID-19
Throughout these unprecedented times, people and organisations are pulling together to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the most disadvantaged young people.
A big part of this is looking beyond the current situation and preparing for a post COVID-19 world. Below are just some examples of how organisations are responding, sharing how we can continue to support the most disadvantaged young people post COVID-19.
👉 Northern MPs and Peers are calling for a catch-up premium of £700 for every pupil on free school meals when schools reopen. Read more here.
👉 Football Beyond Borders have shared episode 5 of the Isolation Diaries, where participants begin to imagine the world post-lockdown, sharing their hopes & fears. Watch here.
👉 The Youth Futures Foundation and Youth Employment Policy group share why protecting the economic future of young people needs urgent attention. Read more here.
👉 Amy Geoghegan from Skills Builder explores how teaching essential skills can prepare children and young people growing up in a different world to the one we imagined. Read more here.
👉 More information has been shared regarding the Youth Unemployment Group. Get involved and find out more here.
👉On 5 May #GivingTuesdayNow is bringing people together to share messages of thanks to all essential workers supporting our communities. For those able and willing to donate, it's also an opportunity to unite around causes we care about and services we rely on. Read more here.
👉 Apps for Good have adapted three of their courses to ensure young people can build tech products to solve problems that they care about. Young people who have complete a course can go on to enter this year's Awards. Entries must be submitted by Monday 18th May 2020. Learn more here.
News
Joint response to Ofqual
👉 A group of FEA members have responded to Ofqual's consultation on the statistical standardisation of centre assessment grades. The FEA, alongside members such as Impetus, Action Tutoring, IntoUniversity and Business in the Community, have called for fair summer qualification grading particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
This joint response has urged that Ofqual monitors the attainment gap as part of their process, and that they should be prepared to step in if the change in the attainment gap is too large, knowing that the attainment gap is largely consistent from year to year.
Sutton Trust report
👉In the first of a series of in-depth briefings looking at the impact of the coronavirus crisis on social mobility, the Sutton Trust's report examines the provision so far put in place by schools, the support and resources pupils have access to at home, and the impact this has had on the schoolwork pupils have completed during lockdown. Read the report here.
Launch of MUNCH: Food bank app
👉 A new app, MUNCH, has been set up to support struggling food banks and vulnerable families across the UK as a result of COVID-19. It is a one-stop source of knowledge for all things food bank related, supported by the Trussell Trust, FareShare, GiveFood and The Felix Project.
The app is available on the App Store and Google Play. For further information contact Chloe here.
Asks for support
OfS: Exploratory work with social mobility organisations
👉 The Office for Students is conducting some exploratory work with social mobility organisations who deliver higher education outreach and information, advice and guidance (IAG). They want to understand the impact of the covid-19 situation on the delivery of these kinds of activities and get an insight into how providers are adapting their provision in response. If you want to be involved in this exploratory work please email uniconnect@officeforstudents.org.uk and they will send you more details.
Offers of support
Free workbooks for excluded students
👉 National Literacy Trust are offering free workbooks to all settings that work with excluded students. Game Changers is a football-themed reading intervention for excluded Key Stage 3 students. Request workbooks here.
Send support: CDC Weekly FAQs
👉 The Council for Disabled Children is running weekly FAQs sharing questions sent to the recently launched CDCQuestions@ncb.org.uk email inbox. Each week the questions received are collated and shared with the Department for Education (DfE) as well as colleagues with specific areas of expertise within CDC. Download the latest in the series of weekly CDC FAQs.
Mental health support
👉 Place2Be have shared tips, advice, and updates on how to access their services to support children, young people and families with mental health during this uncertain time. Access support here.
ImpactED national project
👉 During this challenging period of school closures and remote learning, ImpactEd is launching a national project that aims to:
Equip schools to understand how the current situation is influencing the wellbeing and social and emotional development of their pupils
Collate these findings as part of a larger national research project, conducted in partnership with the University of York
This project is being run at no cost to schools. For more information please see this document with further details, or fill out our expression of interest form to arrange a call with a member of the ImpactED team.
StarLine: Free helpline
👉 StarLine - a new home learning helpline offering expert information and advice to parents and carers - has gone live. Qualified teachers and parenting and education experts will be: providing practical ideas, support and reassurance; supporting family wellbeing and mental health; and covering all phases of education and subjects plus behaviour, pupil wellbeing and SEND.
The team behind StarLine will also be broadcasting a weekly programme on YouTube. In each episode of StarLive, a guest presenter will share practical ideas for home learning.
Free, confidential advice is available six days a week by phoning the StarLine team on 0330 313 9162. Find out more here.
Help us build an online database of initiatives that are offering free services and products for young people, parents and educators.
A big thank you to all 60+ organisations who have contributed to date - the programmes and services you are offering are fantastic. As previously mentioned, we will be building on this list daily to ensure that it is focused on initiatives that are most accessible and valuable for disadvantaged young people and their families.
If you come across any other initiatives that are supporting our communities, please fill in the form as we’ll update the database on a daily basis.
Key events and meetings
ResearchED programme for teachers
👉 ResearchEd has launched a programme for teachers to hear from a range of expert speakers every weekday of the Summer term. Anyone can tune in for free to watch live at 11 am (GMT +1) or catch them later on their Youtube channel. Watch previous presentations, and see what's coming up.
👉 Every Thursday from 3pm - 4pm, we’ll host a virtual meeting for FEA members to connect, hear developments from across the sector, share organisational updates and foster our relationships even during these unusual circumstances. We will be doing a quick recap of key developments outlined in our daily bulletins and then opening up for everyone on the call to share asks of support/offers of support/initiatives and discussion points. No need to register - just join on this link or dial in using +44 20 3855 5195 and Conference ID: 985 997 376#
Funding
Connected 2 Financial Support for Businesses
👉 Connected2 have grouped together all of the available support options that the government have put forward to help businesses through the coronavirus pandemic. Read more here.
We are inspired by the action that you have taken during this time and are grateful for your dedication. If there is anything else we can do to support you, please let us know.