Scottish pupils working to ensure learning recovery after lockdown should be “cut some slack” and spared the negative impact of phrases such as “catch-up”, the SNP’s education spokesperson at Westminster has said.

Carol Monaghan, MP for Glasgow North West, spoke out during the latest Brian Taylor podcast, which focused on schools.

Mr Taylor and Ms Monaghan were joined by this writer, Children In Scotland policy manager Elaine Kerridge, Kelvinside Academy guidance teacher Deborah Gallacher and Professor Steve Turner, a consultant paediatrician at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.

With the summer holidays coming to an end, the podcast explored a range of topics, including pupil vaccination, the future of assessment, and boosting mental health.

Participants also heard from children and young people who described the huge challenges involved in learning during the pandemic. 

READ MORE: Headteachers brand catch-up proposals a 'non-starter'

Ms Monaghan, a former physics teacher, was particularly keen to emphasise the potential distress caused by some of the terms and language used in discussions about education approaches.

She said: “I think we as parents or as politicians or as medics, or whatever our role is, have to be quite aware of additional anxieties that we can bring about by using phrases like, you know, children are falling behind on coursework or we need them to catch up. Catch up with what? Catch up with metrics that we have set?”

Her remarks come after a wide-ranging debate about how to secure learning recovery.

Westminster Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said earlier this year that longer school days and five-term years were all options being considered in a bid to support English children. The UK Government has also announced investment of over £3 billion in initiatives including summer catch-up classes.

The Herald: AHDS general secretary Greg Dempster previously criticised proposals for pupil catch-up lessons.AHDS general secretary Greg Dempster previously criticised proposals for pupil catch-up lessons.

The idea that educational ground needs to be made up has received some support north of the Border. In February, the Commission on School Reform, an independent group of experts set up by think tank Reform Scotland, asked ministers to establish a “radical programme of catch-up to repair the damage caused to children”. The group called for eight extra hours of tuition per week for two years, or five hours per week over three years.

However, union leaders have been strongly critical.

Greg Dempster, general secretary at the Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland, previously told The Herald: “I would say the talk about catch-up classes and restructuring the school day or term to make up for lost learning is a non-starter for the headteachers, school leaders and senior staff I work with.”

READ MORE: £1.4bn pupil catch-up cash branded ‘pitiful’ as recovery tsar admits more needed

His views were echoed by Larry Flanagan, general secretary at the EIS union, who said: “Children need to be nurtured and allowed to reconnect with friends; then we can look at addressing the delayed progress in learning, but the way to do that is to create smaller classes and intensify support, not to formulaically extend hours and term times, as if the task was just to cram more knowledge into their brains.”

Ms Monaghan stressed that those taking part in debates should be mindful of the effect their words can have, particularly around the issue of post-lockdown education recovery.  

“We need to be careful about the language we use and the drive that we have for these young people,” she said during this week's podcast. “Let's cut them some slack.”