Insights into the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Northern Ireland Final Report June 2021 Written by Teresa Geraghty and Frances Lyons for NCB. UNITED FOR DISABLED CHILDREN 1 2 Acknowledgements The research team at NCB would like to thank each and every person who contributed to this research. In particular, we would like to extend our gratitude to all of the young people, parents, teachers and practitioners who participated in interviews and focus groups. Thank you for taking the time to speak with us and to share your experiences, thoughts and feelings about COVID-19 and its impact. Thanks also to our partners for their insights and feedback on research instruments and draft reports and for sharing their particular expertise with us. Our partners in this research project were: • The Council for Disabled Children • Mencap NI • Specialisterne and • SENAC (Special Educational Needs Advice Centre) 3 Table of Contents Executive Summary 5 Introduction 17 The context for children and young people with SEND in Northern Ireland 18 The rationale for this study 19 Aims of the research 20 Methodology 21 A partnership approach 21 Research methods 21 Findings 23 A. The impact of COVID-19 24 B. The impact of the measures taken to address the spread of COVID-19 across Northern Ireland 30 C. The impact of the vaccine rollout and looking to the future 66 Conclusions and recommendations 85 Appendix 1: Summary timeline 91 Footnotes 96 4 Executive Summary Introduction It was said of COVID-19 that ‘we are all in this together’ but NCB knew from evidence and media reports that it did not impact everyone in the same way. This research set out to more fully understand the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), their families and those who support them. This study was led by NCB in partnership with Mencap, SENAC (Special Educational Needs Advice Centre) and Specialisterne. The aims of this research were to: • Engage directly with a group of children and young people with SEND, their parents/ carers and practitioners who support them in Northern Ireland; • Ensure that the group includes children, families and practitioners from a range of different types and severity of disabilities and special educational needs; and • Understand and track the experiences of this group through a series of engagements over a period of time as the crisis, and the government’s responses to it, unfold. A total of 60 interviews and four focus groups were conducted with 61 respondents1 from across Northern Ireland, as summarised in Table 12 , to hear first-hand of their experiences of the pandemic and lockdown measures: 5 Participant type Numbers Age range of children & young people involved Young People Focus Groups: 15-25 years 25 in round 1 28 in round 2 Individual interviews: 5 in round 1 4 in round 2 Parents 15 in each round 5-21 years Practitioners: 13 in round 1 Birth-25 years 12 in round 23 Table 1: Summary of research participants The following is a summary of the key findings of this research. There were impacts across distinct areas: • The impact of COVID-19; • The impact of the measures taken to stop the spread of COVID-19 across Northern Ireland and; • The impact of the vaccine rollout. 6 The impact of COVID-19 The impact on mental health and wellbeing When respondents first heard of COVID-19 most were not worried as there was a perception Social isolation and loneliness: Social isolation that it was only occurring in a distant place, is nothing new for families of children with would not come here and, even if it did, it SEND. In ‘normal’ times, both parents/carers would be mild, like a flu. and children often feel isolated and lonely. The arrival of COVID-19 and the measures taken to However, as the virus spread across Europe in mitigate it compounded these feelings further early 2020, parents in this research became due to the need for some children to shield and increasingly concerned for the health of their the closure of all clubs/groups that the young children and for their own health. Fear of the people and parents might normally attend. virus was widespread among both parents and practitioners due to the vulnerability of some of Parents who had worked hard to help their the children. children develop inter-personal skills felt that this work would be undone as their children Parents were also afraid that, in the event of had no face-to-face interaction with others. their child being hospitalised with COVID-19, Some young people, though, were able to they would not be seen as a priority if connect with peers via Zoom, Facetime or equipment such as ventilators were scarce. other platforms. Some clubs were able to Guidelines from NICE and the BMA contributed be delivered online, and while these were to this fear. considered better than nothing, they were not really seen as being quite as good as in-person Practitioners were concerned how they would attendance. continue to support children and families, given the rapidly deteriorating situation across Lockdown three started just after Christmas Europe. 2020, and many of the respondents, adults and young people, felt that it was harder than COVID-19 resulted in excess deaths in all the others had been in terms of heightening countries, including Northern Ireland. For many feelings of loneliness and isolation. This was young people, this was their first experience of due to a combination of factors such as the bereavement as many grandparents and older darkness and shortness of the days in winter, people succumbed to the virus. Practitioners the inclement weather and a sense of weariness were also affected by bereavement as more with the situation, which was persisting much young people they worked with died during longer than first anticipated. the pandemic. Not being able to have normal funeral rituals also negatively impacted on Reduced support for parents/carers: Linked children, families and practitioners at this time. to the social isolation and loneliness that many participants experienced was the lack The young people in this study demonstrated of support experienced by parents and carers. good understanding of the public health advice This was especially apparent during the first about COVID-19 and the mitigations to slow lockdown before support ‘bubbles’ were down and prevent its spread. However, there permitted. During this time, families who had were mixed responses to the amount and relied on paid carers coming into their homes type of information that was provided. Some to help look after their children were left felt that there was enough information, others unsupported as the carers were not allowed thought that there could have been more into the home. while a minority felt there was too much. Some young people felt that, at times, the amount of Since March 2020, many statutory services have information was overwhelming and confusing, been paused and the staff from these services especially as the situation and responses to redeployed, so there appeared to be little or it across the UK changed over time. Several no capacity in statutory agencies to maintain would have welcomed information that the services normally offered to parents/ was ‘tailored’ for young people. Sources of carers. Several voluntary sector providers were, information included social media, the news though, able to adapt the services they offered, and family and friends. often providing practical support as well as 7 emotional support to parents/carers and their in to school. families, often online or over the telephone. However, although special schools remained Anxiety and stress: Almost all participants in the open during lockdown three and children study mentioned heightened levels of anxiety with SEND were eligible to attend mainstream and stress caused by the pandemic and the schools, for several participants it was not measures taken to prevent its spread. There ‘business as usual’ with several special schools was a variety of reasons for such stress. and FE colleges operating on reduced hours while mainstream schools offered supervision, For parents/carers and young people these not teaching. This meant that many young included fears of contracting the virus people did not have the support they normally itself, forced separation of families, lack of have in a school day. Practitioners confirmed access to respite services and a disruption what parents claimed and pointed out that to routines, which for very young children during the third lockdown children with a especially (though not exclusively) was hard to statement of SEN who attended mainstream understand and often resulted in a deterioration schools were not, in fact, having their needs in behaviour. met simply by the doors of the school being open to them. For practitioners, stress levels rose due to adjusting to remote working and attempting to The impact on learning and development: keep delivering services in a rapidly and ever- Some parents and teachers reported that there changing situation. either was a loss of learning and development or feared there would be for the children during The impact on education, development the various lockdowns and in the intervening and employment period while the children were at school, as schools were not operating as normal, but also The closure of schools was identified by had mitigations in place. some as being the measure that had the biggest impact on their organisations and the Despite the variation in what was offered, the families they worked with, both in the initial majority of parents whose children attended and subsequent phases of dealing with the special schools reported a major positive pandemic.