We must free our schools
Thatcher’s education chief says they should be exempt from 2-metre rule
‘More optimistic approach’
LORD Baker yesterday demanded that the twometre rule be slashed to one in schools to help pupils return to lessons.
The former education secretary said primaries and secondaries should have ‘ special dispensation’ because children are ‘the least vulnerable’ to coronavirus.
He spoke out as Amanda Spielman, Ofsted’s chief inspector of schools, called for the Government to have a more optimistic and ‘can do’ approach to reopening.
She also wants the watchdog to examine lockdown learning amid fears over varying standards of home education provided by schools.
Lord Baker, who was secretary of state for education under Margaret Thatcher, piled pressure on the Government to ease social distancing requirements. He insisted ministers should ‘ positively encourage schools to open from now’. He said: ‘There are 80 days between now and September and during that time schools should not be locked-up empty buildings: they should be learning centres.
‘The schools that have opened already only have a small proportion of their students: action is needed.’
Lord Baker, chairman of the Baker Dearing Educational Trust, added: ‘ The Secretary of State should ask the Prime Minister and the Cabinet for a special dispensation just for schools to reduce the social-distance requirement from two metres to one metre, as children are the least vulnerable to this virus. All teachers and staff should be tested daily.’
Schools across England closed on March 20, with Ofsted inspections suspended.
Some nursery, reception, year one and year six pupils began to return to primary schools on June 1. They are placed in socially distanced ‘ bubbles’ of no more than 15 pupils.
Education Secretary Gavin Wilface liamson this week performed a U-turn over plans for primaries to welcome back all year groups before the summer holidays.
Some pupils in years ten and 12 will be allowed to meet face-to
with their teachers at secondary school from Monday.
However, guidance to secondary schools on social distancing means millions might only return parttime from September.
Government sources this week refused to confirm that all children at either primary or secondary schools would be able to go back full-time in the autumn term.
Miss Spielman joined a chorus of criticism over the handling of the crisis. ‘I would like to hear a much more optimistic approach,’ she told Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday. ‘It should be about what we can do, not about what we can’t do.
‘ Many schools are already showing that within the public health guidance that sets the expectation for these bubbles of 15 children there’s a great deal that can be done.’
The Ofsted chief stressed that the risk to children is ‘ very low indeed’ and ‘those in education should take some confidence from that’.
She said: ‘It’s about starting from the position of seeing what can we
create, how far we can go?’ Ofsted is also currently speaking with the Department for Education about its role in assessing the quality of remote learning provided by schools, Miss Spielman revealed.
She said: ‘At this stage routine inspections are suspended and this is an area where at the moment there are no clear expectations of what schools ought to be providing.
‘Sometimes there’s confusion about what Ofsted does – people think we create the standards, we don’t, we inspect against the standards that Government creates.
‘We do need some clarity about those minimum expectations. As soon as those are in place it will be possible to start assessing whether schools are doing what they should be doing.’
Mr Williamson told the Commons on Tuesday his department will set out ‘basic minimum curriculum requirements’ all schools must deliver for pupils not attending lessons.
Last night No 10 confirmed schools in England would not remain open during the summer for children of key workers. They did so over Easter to help parents keep working.
Asked if extra buildings such as libraries or cinemas could be requisitioned to accommodate more pupils in September, a spokesman said the Government would ‘look at what more was needed’.
THE number of patients referred to hospital with suspected cancer fell by 60 per cent during lockdown, data shows.
A staggering 120,000 fewer people with cancer symptoms were seen in hospital after going to their GP this April, compared with April 2019.
The number of patients starting treatment also fell by 20 per cent as the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on cancer care.
Charities said the delays in diagnosis and treatment are likely to cost lives, warning that tens of thousands of cancer patients are now stuck in a treatment backlog.
The NHS England figures show that 79,573 urgent cancer referrals were made by GPs in April, compared with 199,217 in April 2019. Urgent breast cancer referrals plunged by 78 per cent, from 16,753 in April 2019 to 3,759 in April 2020.
Thousands of patients with worrying cancer symptoms such as a lump have been reluctant to see their GP due to fear of catching coronavirus or burdening NHS staff.
Sarah Woolnough, from Cancer Research UK, said: ‘It’s devastating to see the impact that Covid-19 is having on cancer patients... Patients need to know that cancer hospitals are a safe place to go.’
Baroness Delyth Morgan, of Breast Cancer Now, said it was vital for women to check their breasts regularly and contact their GP surgery urgently if they noticed any unusual.
Cancer Research UK says 2.1million patients are awaiting crucial screenings for breast, cervical and bowel cancer, which have been delayed during the pandemic.
Another 290,000 have missed out on urgent referrals to confirm or rule out tumours.
And at least 21,600 patients have had surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy postponed in the past nine weeks. Some of these procedures would have saved lives.
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said: ‘These figures show that over the last three months NHS staff have been working incredibly hard to ensure that essential and urgent cancer treatment has been able to go ahead safely for thousands of people, but they also show what we have heard already, that many people have put off seeing their GP.’