Will your child EVER go back to school? Government DROPS plan to get all pupils back by September and launches testing scheme to monitor Covid-19 spread in schools as education chiefs say there are not enough classrooms or teachers to operate safely
- Matt Hancock said secondary schools to reopen by September 'at the earliest'
- Ministers set to drop plans to get all primary school pupils back before summer
- Health Secretary also announced new programme to test teachers and pupils
- The voluntary scheme will see staff and students given swab and antibody tests
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Secondary schools could remain shut beyond September while ministers are set to drop plans to get all primary pupils back in the classroom before the summer holidays.
The Government has an 'ambition' to get primary schools fully back up and running by the end of June so that pupils could receive at least one month's education before the summer break.
But the phased reopening of primary schools to reception, year one and year six has shown that many schools simply do not have enough space to welcome back all pupils while also complying with social distancing rules.
As a result Department for Education sources have said 'we are likely to step back a bit' on the primary school reopening pledge.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night appeared to concede that the Government could struggle to reopen secondary schools by the start of the new academic year.
Students in year 10 and 12 will be allowed to meet teachers from June 15 as they prepare for exam years but the goal of a total reopening in September looks unlikely.
Mr Hancock said it was still 'our current working plan' that secondary schools in England would not reopen until September 'at the earliest'.
Some education chiefs said they were not surprised that the Government was having to backtrack on its reopening plans because ministers had 'over-promised' on something that 'wasn't deliverable'.
However, Anne Longfield, the Children's Commissioner for England, said the prospect of the Government dropping its primary school 'ambition' represented a 'huge disappointment'.
It came as Mr Hancock announced that up to 20,000 pupils and teachers will receive coronavirus tests so that ministers can monitor the spread of the disease as schools do reopen.
The testing programme will be rolled out to 100 schools across England by the end of the summer term with around 200 staff and children tested in each.
The programme will be entirely voluntary and will be a mix of swab tests to see if people currently have coronavirus and antibody blood tests to see if people have previously had the disease.
Boris Johnson is expected to discuss the schools reopening plans at a meeting of the Cabinet this morning before Education Secretary Gavin Williamson delivers a statement to Parliament on the issue this afternoon.
With approval from parents and guardians, children will be tested to see whether they have Covid-19 (pictured: Deep cleaning the classrooms at St Alphege Church of England Junior School, Solihull)
Children sit at individual desks during a lesson at the Harris Academy's Shortland's school last week in London
Mr Hancock is the first Government minister to concede that the reopening of secondary schools could be delayed beyond September.
The Health Secretary said coronavirus is 'in retreat' and that plans to further ease lockdown restrictions including the reopening of non-essential shops from Monday could go ahead.
But with the phased reopening of England's schools having begun last week, he acknowledged older pupils could still face months without physically attending classes.
'That is our current working plan, is that secondary schools won't open until September at the earliest,' he said.
Ian Robinson said he did not think lessening the social distancing restrictions from two metres to one would help matters in schools.
When the possible move was put to the Oak Partnership Trust chief executive, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I don't think so - you can't keep children two feet or even 1.5 feet away from each other.
'We've worked on the principle of no more than 15 children per classroom, so one of our schools, when we've got all three of our year groups in and over 50 key worker and vulnerable children in, have 250 children on site - they have got 12 classrooms.
'If you divide those children into groups of 15, you don't have any more classrooms, you don't have any more teachers to be able to bring any more year groups back in.'
Mr Robinson said it was not a 'silver bullet' to bring disadvantaged children in before the end of term and said there were 'broader' issues to resolve, including making laptops more available and continuing free school meals during the summer holidays.
He added: 'I'm not sure there is much of a gain to bringing children back for four weeks, to be honest.'
Meanwhile, the Department for Education said it remained the 'ambition' for all primary school children to return before the summer holidays - but did not deny reports Mr Williamson will accept this desire may not be fulfilled.
A senior source at the Department for Education told The Sun: 'Some schools don't have enough space - we have always said we will listen to schools so we are likely to step back a bit on that.
'Some schools are bigger so are able to split kids up. But we understand not all will be able to do this.'
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he was not surprised the plans to bring back all primary pupils before the summer holidays had been dropped.
He said: 'The 'ambition' to bring back all primary year groups for a month before the end of the summer term was a case of the Government over-promising something that wasn't deliverable.
'It isn't possible to do that while maintaining small class sizes and social bubbles, so we aren't surprised that the policy has been jettisoned.'
But Ms Longfield said ditching the timetable would dash the hopes of many children and would have long term learning implications.
She told BBC Breakfast: 'I think it's a huge disappointment for those children who'd expected to go back into school before the summer now now may not.
'It does mean that the vast majority, probably about eight million children, very likely won't return to the classroom until September, which means that, again, there will be a huge variation in their learning over that period.'
She said children will remain 'isolated', with many living in 'fragile' family environments.
'I hope that Government doesn't just write off this period,' Ms Longfield said.
Robert Halfon, the Conservative chairman of the Education select committee told the Telegraph he was very concerned about the lack of teaching for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
He said: 'Eighty-five per cent of disadvantaged children are not learning. A survey of 900 headteachers said that possibly 700,000 children are possibly not doing schoolwork.
Matt Hancock said at the Downing Street briefing that it was still 'our current working plan' that secondary schools in England will not open until September 'at the earliest'
'This will mean [they have missed] half the school year, and it could set these children back by many many months. This is going to have a massive impact on children.
'It is incredibly tough for parents who may need to go back to work and will have real difficulties in terms of child care.'
Currently children are placed in 'protective bubbles' of no more than 15 children per class at primary school to help prevent the spread of this disease.
But this often requires using additional classrooms or different areas of the school, with some facilities not able to find enough space to fit all their pupils in.
Speaking ahead of his statement to MPs, Mr Williamson told Sky News: 'We know that being in school is vital for children's education and their well-being.
'Last week, primary schools began to welcome back some pupils and secondary schools will begin to do the same from 15 June, as part of our phased and cautious approach to getting children and young people back into the classroom.'
The disarray over the reopening of schools in England came as Mr Hancock announced plans to roll out coronavirus tests to teachers and pupils.
With approval from parents and guardians, children will be tested to see whether they have Covid-19 or have had an infection in the past under the surveillance programme.
Mr Hancock is aiming to have up to 100 schools tested across England by the end of the summer term, with around 200 staff and children involved at each of those schools.
'This study will help us better understand how common asymptomatic and mild cases of Covid-19 are so that we can support parents, pupils and teachers and support staff, and inform our ongoing response to this new virus,' he said.
The move may allay some concerns that the lockdown has been eased too quickly, as well as those from teaching unions over staff safety.
With children less likely to show coronavirus symptoms, swab tests would be used to better understand the spread of the disease throughout schools.
Streets outside Eton College buildings last week remain very quiet during the coronavirus lockdown
In a reception classroom, children sit apart from each other on a carpet where crosses have been marked out for them to sit on, in a teaching environment safe from Coronavirus for pupils and teachers at Brambles Primary Academy in Huddersfield, northern England last week
Antibody tests on blood samples would also be available for a small proportion of schools to see if pupils and staff have had Covid-19 and recovered.
The Department of Health and Social Care stressed the scheme would be voluntary, with parents and guardians being asked to provide informed consent before testing is carried out.
Dr Shamez Ladhani, a paediatric infectious diseases consultant at Public Health England, said: 'The results of this study will play an important role in informing wider surveillance planned for educational settings in the autumn term.
'Through active surveillance, contact tracing and the close monitoring of any clusters of cases, we are committed to ensuring the safety of students and staff returning to school in the coming weeks and months.'
The Liberal Democrats' education spokeswoman Layla Moran said the measure would be 'too little, too late' as she called for the Government to get the test and trace system up to speed to prevent a second wave of Covid-19.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiemh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5bWFpbC5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FydGljbGUtODQwMTUwMS8yMC0wMDAtcHVwaWxzLXN0YWZmLUVuZ2xhbmQtZ2l2ZW4tc3dhYi10ZXN0cy1Db3ZpZC1zcHJlYWRzLWNsYXNzcm9vbS5odG1s0gF-aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGFpbHltYWlsLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvYXJ0aWNsZS04NDAxNTAxL2FtcC8yMC0wMDAtcHVwaWxzLXN0YWZmLUVuZ2xhbmQtZ2l2ZW4tc3dhYi10ZXN0cy1Db3ZpZC1zcHJlYWRzLWNsYXNzcm9vbS5odG1s?oc=5
2020-06-09 09:54:22Z
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