Schools will be able to reopen fully from September under new plans published this morning, Gavin Williamson has said.
The Education Secretary told MPs the last three months had been “some of the most challenging” faced by schools, parents and children and paid tribute to those who have supported pupils throughout lockdown.
Children will be encouraged to continue social distancing, under new rules, Gavin Williamson has confirmed. “As a minimum, this will mean keeping whole year groups in schools and colleges separate,” he said. There will also be increased regular infection control measures and regular testing will also be made available.
All schools will be provided with a small number of home testing kits for those who develop symptoms on site if they struggle to access a testing centre, he added. Schools will then be advised on what steps need to be taken.
Schools will be told to offer a “broad and balanced” curriculum with exams due to take place next summer.
Mandatory attendance will be reintroduced including those with special educational needs and nurseries and other early year childcare providers will no longer be required to place limits on the number of children who play together from the 20th July.
Among the other guidance to be issued to schools is that they should consider holding music lessons or classes outside.
“Singing, wind and brass playing should not take place in larger groups such as school choirs and ensembles, or school assemblies.”
Pupils are being urged to walk or cycle, with schools told to consider creating “walking buses” so groups of children can walk in together. Where this is not practical, children can catch school buses but are supposed to remain in their “bubbles” on the bus. If pupils must use public transport, schools could stagger start times so they are not travelling in rush hour.
Lunch times will have to be staggered so children could eat very early or late. Break and lesson changeover times are likely to change to avoid crushes in corridors.
The National Education Union says that it is being “unrealistic” in assuming that exams in England can go ahead next summer largely as normal
Nansi Ellis, the NEU assistant general secretary, said:
The NEU is seriously concerned about the minimal suggestions made in Ofqual’s proposals for exams in summer 2021. It is welcome that the options for each subject have been considered based on the nature of that subject, as opposed to suggesting generic changes that may not suit each one. However in the majority of subjects the expectation that the full specification can be covered by next summer, after many months of lost teaching time, still remains.
This expectation is unrealistic – delaying exams by 2 or 3 weeks next summer can’t make up for the months already lost, never mind any further potential time that may be lost due to subsequent waves of the virus or local spikes and lockdowns. The changes suggested to help reduce some tasks which take up large amounts of teaching hours sound generally helpful, but the Department for Education and Ofqual need to go further with changes to exam content otherwise they risk driving inequality in the system and undermining the results awarded next summer.
