Children’s relationships with teachers remained strong during pandemic

Primary schools have played a vital role in supporting children through the significant mental health challenges caused by COVID-19, according to a report from Cardiff University.

Over a quarter of 10-11 year olds reported elevated or clinically significant emotional difficulties during the pandemic, up from 17% in 2019, the data reveals.

But most children remained well connected to their primary schools, rating relationships with staff positively, the report concludes.

Responding to an online survey, 90% of children said they feel cared for and accepted by their teachers, while 80% trusted their teachers and agreed that there was at least one adult in school they can talk to about things that worry them.

The team, from the Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer), found that not seeing friends or family and family members becoming unwell with Covid were among the most persistent worries experienced by 10-11 year olds during the pandemic.

Children from poorer backgrounds were approximately twice as likely to report elevated emotional and behavioural difficulties compared to those from the most affluent families, according to the survey data.

Jointly commissioned by Welsh Government Ministers for Health and Social Services and for Education, the report is part of a project to expand the existing Wales-wide School Health Research Network into primary schools. The new data were compared with a survey conducted by the team before the pandemic, funded by Cancer Research UK, to understand change over time.

Researchers say this work will enable them to identify earlier intervention points to understand and support events affecting student health and wellbeing in Wales.