Commenting on today’s appearance by the Secretary of State in front
of the Commons Education Select Committee, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint
General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"We were relieved to hear confirmation from the Education
Secretary that schools and colleges will not be returning during
the summer holidays. Lockdown is not a holiday. All education
staff are working extremely intensively for long days during
lockdown and so the summer holiday dates must stay in place.
During August, children and teenagers who have been inside for
months are going to need activities like summer schemes and
holiday clubs, if these can be safely re-opened by Local
Authorities.
"When the scientific evidence allows for a return to school, a
great deal of preparation will be needed. Issues such as how
social distancing can be achieved and which year groups might be
first during the phased return are extremely complex for heads to
timetable and will require negotiation with union groups. We must
'build back better' rather than rush back to normal. Learning
will need to be relevant to students and their experiences and
our focus must be on transition, not catch-up. For lots of
different reasons the phased return is going to be very
challenging for lots of children, and students are going to need
time to talk and time for a healthy transition, not 'catch up' or
booster classes. Children with SEN, or starting year 7 in
September or in reception, for example, will need lots of
emotional support during any phased return.
“When it is safe to talk about phased return, schools will then
be planning for phased return but also for the ongoing support to
students at home. Schools will not have all staff back on site
for many months and not until testing and tracing is fully up and
running. All staff with underlying health conditions or who are
vulnerable will need to be at home so timetables will be tricky
and the full curriculum simply impossible. We will need an
extended, flexible recovery plan, and no one should be under any
illusion that there is some 'catch up' magic bullet.
"What is obvious is that we need a plan for a phased return that
does not make the effect of lockdown for disadvantaged children
even worse. This means we need a flexible interim curriculum,
lots of focus on social and emotional health and much greater
social security for the millions of families struggling to feed
their families. Access to laptops is urgent and many schools are
making their own plans, rather than wait for the national
scheme."
