Commenting on the report of the Education Policy Institute,
‘Preventing the disadvantage gap from increasing during and after
the Covid-19 pandemic’, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the
Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“These are excellent proposals, and we particularly endorse the
idea of doubling the pupil premium for disadvantaged children in
certain year groups, and in early years.
“In fact, we would very much like to see this extended to other
year groups because learning is a continuum and the shutdown will
impact on every stage and age.
“We are very pleased that the Education Policy Institute has said
that schools should be allowed to make their own, evidence-based
judgements, about how best to use this extra funding for
disadvantaged pupils.
“Schools know their pupils well, and they are best-placed to make
decisions over what will be effective.
“In this context, the idea of a national teacher volunteer
scheme, targeted at retired and returning teachers, who may want
to give their time, could work well as a resource on which
schools can draw.
“The Education Policy Institute’s focus on supporting FE colleges
and 16-19 providers with an education for recovery package, is
also an excellent and much-needed initiative.
“It is important that schools and colleges are left with the time
and space to focus on the huge challenge of this ongoing crisis,
rather than being burdened with the full weight of the
accountability system, and we agree Ofsted inspections should be
suspended until at least January 2021.”
