This morning, the government has published
its plans for all children and young people to return to
full-time education from September.
Responding to the new guidance, , Executive Chairman of the
Education Policy Institute said:
“Schools will welcome the fact that they now have the guidance
they urgently need to prepare for the Autumn term. The government
is, of course, right to seek to bring all children back into
education from September, provided the health advice supports
this decision. Learning loss since March is likely to have been
significant, and will undoubtedly have increased the already
unacceptable attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and
other students.
“It’s clear that in order to get all pupils back to school, the
government is having to be far more pragmatic about social
distancing. Even “year group bubbles” will be difficult to
control effectively, when around 1 in 3 secondary pupils travels
to school on a school bus or public transport.
“Although children seem to face significantly lower health risks
from the virus, their role in transmission of the virus is still
unclear. The government should publish the detailed health
guidance on which these plans are based, and it must have in
place a robust testing and tracking system to allow a swift
response if the return to school significantly boosts
transmission.
“If the virus remains in circulation in the Autumn, then other
parts of society may need to continue social distancing to allow
the safe return of schools. That could mean continued working
from home, wearing of masks, and caution over other key
re-opening decisions.
“Finally, given the very serious risks of a second pandemic wave,
with local and national lockdowns, the government must have a
robust “Plan B” that will allow all pupils to work effectively at
home in the Autumn and Winter. All children – not just the
current “priority groups” should be given home access to IT, such
as laptops, and additional provision for online tutoring is
needed. This will be expensive – but it would be even more costly
to allow many children to lose up to a year of learning.”
