SHORTER HOLS & LONGER DAYS
Catch-up tsar mulls summer class revolution & 5-term years.. but unions blast ‘tired ideas’
SCHOOL years could be split into five terms and summer holidays cut short – along with longer days in the classroom.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said changes to the school calendar were being examined by the Government’s catch-up tsar Sir Kevan Collins.
He signalled a long-term restructure could be on the cards.
Sir Kevan has been asked to draw up plans to ensure children’s futures are not blighted by the pandemic.
Mr Williamson told the i newspaper: “We should never be nervous about looking at new routes... There’s been discussion about five-term years. It’s right to have that discussion about how we can really drive attainment, especially children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.”
Sir Kevan suggested this week that school days could be extended to help pupils catch up and warned that recovery could take until the end of this Parliament in 2024.
Unions branded the plan a “distraction” as teachers in England scramble to prepare for the mass return of pupils on Monday.
NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach said: “Rather than dredging up tired ideas Gavin Williamson should be focusing his time and energy on supporting the work of teachers and schools.”
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, warned: “Any proposals will need to consider that teachers already work more unpaid overtime than any other profession.”
Mr Williamson resisted pressure to tighten up rules on wearing face masks, saying: “We think that schools will use good judgment.”
He urged parents to allow their children to get Covid tests, amid reports heads are scrambling to get consent forms completed in time.
THE two long national lockdowns in England have disrupted the education of a whole generation of children.
So it is right to look at ways of helping pupils catch up with the weeks of lost learning.
This should be done in consultation with teachers so they are not lumbered with additional hours of work for no additional pay.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s concern about the impact of Covid on education would carry more weight had he not been part of a Government that cut per-pupil funding by 8% between 2010 and 2019.
A dditional cash for education was also noticeably absent from this week’s Budget.
If this Government cared about children’s futures, it would invest properly in schools, expand free school meal provision and reopen the hundreds of Sure Start centres it closed.
And it would not have created a situation where schools have had to beg parents for basics such as pens and even toilet rolls.
Tinkering with school terms is just a distraction from the Tory failures of the past decade.