The Smith Family highlights impact of COVID, cost of living on Dubbo's disadvantaged students

A recent report by The Smith Family found more than half - 54 per cent - of parents and carers surveyed said COVID was continuing to make learning difficult for their children.

The difficulties are stemming from mental health concerns, worries about getting the virus, missing school due to being unwell and disrupted routines.

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That's on top of difficulties faced by disadvantaged families who don't have the same access to technology and tutoring at home.

The Smith Family's Dubbo program coordinator Sonia Strachan said the results of the survey - which also found two-thirds of parents and carers reported that COVID made starting school difficult this year - were expected.

"It is unsurprising that COVID has highlighted and exacerbated the already existent learning gaps faced by disadvantaged students," Ms Strachan said.

"Even before the pandemic, students experiencing disadvantage were on average two to three years behind their more advantaged peers in literacy and numeracy."

She said 75 per cent of parents and carers found it difficult to help their kids with schoolwork during the pandemic due to a lack of devices, skills, time or internet access for home learning, and juggling other responsibilities.

"As a result, students are at risk of falling behind even further due to COVID, and this is an issue we think needs to be addressed with absolute urgency," Ms Strachan said.

She said she was seeing a widening educational gap and she had been hearing directly from families who were worried about their children's education.

Grattan Institute's analysis of the NAPLAN data shows significant gaps remain or have worsened for disadvantaged students in the last two years.

It found the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students increased at three times the rate during learning at home. And it was those from low socio-economic families, Indigenous backgrounds and remote communities who are the most likely to be impacted.

Those same concerns were reflected in the Smith Family's report.

One caregiver said their child's grades "dropped significantly" last year due to "a combination of a lack of learning support materials and difficulties in attempting to home school".

Another expressed concerns about their children being sent home from school again.

"Will my Year 6 child be ready for high school as he's already behind? Will my Year 1 child be able to catch up as she missed most of kindy?" they said.

In regional areas like Dubbo, the concerns are exacerbated by an increasing cost of living.

"Families in Dubbo are struggling with the rising cost of fuel, which is impacting the ability to travel to and from school, sport and family engagements," Ms Strachan said.

In Dubbo on Tuesday, the cheapest unleaded E10 petrol was more than 190 cents per litre. Not counting E10, the cheapest unleaded fuel was 195.9 cents.

"Another concern here is the teacher shortage," Ms Strachan said.

"This is worrying for parents as they are seeing the impact on their child's education and engagement in education and are concerned that they won't be able to compensate for this."

Last month Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT branch secretary Mark Northam said the teacher shortage had reached a "critical level".

"By that I mean if you went around the Dubbo schools today you would find a shortage of casual teachers and you would find the schools having enormous difficulty getting applicants to fill teaching positions," he said.

Despite all the difficulties, Ms Strachan said the Smith Family was committed to helping students catch up with their studies through their tailored numeracy, literacy and mentoring programs, such as student2student, Learning Clubs and iTrack.

"These programs are evidence-based and the students that participate in them report increased engagement, confidence, improvement in knowledge and skills, and a more optimistic future outlook," Ms Strachan said.

"We want to extend our learning support programs to even more children over the coming year and we urge the community to donate this Winter Appeal to ensure all children in need can make the most of their education and create better futures for themselves."

The Smith Family chief executive officer Doug Taylor said helping now would set the students up for a better education.

"Not only do our programs equip young people with knowledge and skills, but they open their eyes to future study and career opportunities," Mr Taylor said.

"Providing extra support that's tailored to students' needs and delivered when they need it, is an effective way to help them keep up with their learning and make the most of their education. This can make a huge difference to their life outcomes."

The Smith Family's Winter Appeal aims to raise more than $5.4 million by 30 June. Donations will help the charity provide vital extra learning and mentoring support to 12,857 more children in need.

In Dubbo alone the Smith Family is assisting 1000 children and young people.

Ms Strachan said the organisation was dedicated to continuing its support for those in need and the donations received as part of the Winter Appeal would ensure the critical services continued.

The Dubbo community can support the appeal via thesmithfamily.com.au/winter.