Children aged five to 12 are doing well academically, but two years after lockdowns, teachers and parents are helping them learn to interact, work together and be more confident.
In this series, The Age is focusing on the wellbeing of Victoria’s 1.69 million children and young people two years after pandemic lockdowns ended.Year 5 student Kaien Vu would like to be a neurosurgeon when he grows up. A lawyer if that doesn’t work out. “Because I can provide for my family,” he explains.Kaien is happier now. He plays violin and soccer, and attends a learning club each Tuesday. “We can actually talk, and we don’t have to struggle with hearing and online things,” he says.
Shawcross says his students, 90 per cent of whom live in housing commission flats, are now thriving academically. “We feel like kids are doing really well. And it doesn’t appear to have had any long-term impact,” he says. “We talk about in school the learning pit, where children sometimes go into a pit for their learning, and they have to work it out and get up and out. I think a lot of parents don’t want their children to be in the social and emotional pit,” she says.In Australia, there’s a huge gap in the academic results of advantaged and disadvantaged students, and it grows wider with each year of schooling, the Grattan Institute says.
“Given that there were quite ongoing restrictions in children’s ability to participate in community sports and even get outside and play outside in the playground at the time, I think it has potential to have a big impact on those children,” says Dr Tara Fitzgerald, an expert in child physical activity and motor development.
Beyond screens, 94 per cent of primary school-aged children participate in a cultural activity, such as drama, singing or playing a musical instrument, dancing, art and craft, creative writing and reading, ABS data shows. Reading for pleasure and participating in cultural activities peak for children aged nine to 11, before falling.
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