Nearly all children in England have seen their education impacted as a result of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, the UK’s education watchdog Ofsted has warned. In the watchdog’s annual report, Ofsted Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman said the message around the harm that lockdowns cause children—and the importance of in-person schooling—“needs repeating now.” Spielman wrote that the education and social care sectors have been under “tremendous strain” during the pandemic and their efforts “deserve the highest praise.” “But the challenges of COVID-19 were so great that nearly every child has felt the impact of the resulting restrictions. Many young children’s progress and development faltered.” She said schoolchildren struggled with “a hokey-cokey education: in the classroom, at home, separated in bubbles, isolating alone.” As a result, many of the youngest children’s progress and development “faltered” amid the pandemic, with some regressing in basic language and social skills, the report said. Spielman said that …