Champions Tamsin and Amber, enterprising students from Droitwich Spa High School, have fought back from the lockdowns and troubles of the Covid-19 pandemic. They have made sufficient progress toward completion of their GCSEs. The pandemic’s impact on their education resulted in Tamsin’s school attendance plummeting to just 52%, with nearly half of her days in school missed over the past three years. Amber took to remote learning amid the pandemic, finding she thrived in smaller class environments. Even so, her overall attendance was up and down from 2021 to 2024.
The continued impact of the pandemic has produced some alarming numbers. In England, the number of children missing more than a tenth of their school days exploded. It skyrocketed from 771,863 in the 2018-2019 academic year to an incredible 1,487,022 in 2023-2024. This backdrop, there is a dire need for targeted support programs such as the Link. It has been invaluable in getting Tamsin and Amber back on their feet in their education careers.
To get there, Tamsin suffered through paralyzing panic attacks that worsened every morning she had to go to school. She described the anxiety she felt:
“Every time I woke up to go to school I started getting panic attacks. My heart would hurt.” – Tamsin
She found a community in the Link program. There, as many as seven students are able to study for two hours each day with the guidance of specialist teachers. The individualized support Judith has provided has changed Tamsin’s confidence levels astronomically, helping her get more integrated and active in school.
“I find I’m going out more and getting the train by myself, which I never would have dreamed of before,” – Tamsin
Amber found the calmer setting of the program helped her thrive. She expressed her preference for less noise to enhance her focus:
“I like to work with not a lot of noise so I can focus more,” – Amber
Amber’s mother, Becki, shared her initial worries about her daughter’s educational trajectory and how the Link transformed Amber’s life.
“Without Kim, I don’t even want to think where Amber could possibly be right now,” – Becki
She continued to highlight the positive changes she observed in her daughter:
“It’s just beautiful to see that I’ve got my daughter back.” – Becki
Thanks to help from the Link, Amber was able to sit five GCSEs. She delivered on things that seemed unimaginable just a few years back.
“Being in the Link, [Amber] walked out with five GCSE’s, something we thought she wouldn’t get.” – Becki
Co-head teachers Claire Moss and Gemma Lloyd Davies paid tribute to the devoted workers responsible for the Link programme. They noticed how many students had trouble getting to school every day. For others, they only had the capacity to be one day a week. What they’ve done is increase access enough that students are going every day.
“We had quite a significant number of students who couldn’t make any more than a day a week. We’ve now grown that so that students are accessing every day.” – Gemma Lloyd Davies
Kim, one of the program’s key figures, actively engages with families to ensure attendance and understand any barriers that may prevent students from coming to school.
“Kim will always call [members of the Link’s] parents each day to make sure they can come in and, if they can’t, she’ll find out why,” – Ms Lloyd Davies
Now, as Tamsin and Amber graduate and make plans for their own futures, they can look back on their experiences generously. Amber believes that programs like the Link can serve as valuable resources for other students facing similar challenges:
“It’s boosted my confidence a lot so if other schools did something like this, it would help a lot of kids,” – Amber
