Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Announcement receives mixed response
Since Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced phased plans to reopen schools for children of certain ages, the argument about whether it is the right decision is still raging on. The government has been at loggerheads with education bosses, teachers, unions and parents over how safe a return to the classroom on June 1 really is.
It is also facing pressure from parents attempting to hold down jobs while home schooling children.
Stuart Pywell, who has been head teacher of St Stephen’s Juniors School in Canterbury for 31 years, is willing to reopen for certain year groups. He said: “The schools medical officer and the public health officer for England have both said that they think it’s okay for children to go back. So we’re actually on a government directive, which is to go back, and that’s what we actually have to do.
“It’s a bit like nurses and doctors saying ‘well actually, I don’t really want to go into a hospital because it’s dangerous and I might die’.
“If one head teacher says ‘I’m not going back’, that has to be their choice. But I’m not sure whether they’re breaching regulations or not. Returning pupils and staff will be given the choice to wear face masks and class sizes will be reduced to between 12 and 15 children. Home-schooling will also be offered for the next couple of months, for children who did not want to return, Mr Pywell added.
However, plenty of head teachers have questioned the PM’S plans, claiming it would not be possible to come back into school and social distance.
In a brutally honest letter to all parents, head of St George’s Church of England Primary School in Minster, Howard Fisher, said he would rather pupils repeat a year than risk one of them dying.
He said: “I can be truthful here and categorically tell you there is no such thing as social distancing in a school, it does not exist and would never exist.
“So parents, what can you do next? Well, all I can do is pass onto you information when we have it and you can make your own decision.
“Parent power is quite something when it is applied nationally, perhaps you too have some great ideas that can be brought before our politicians. Similarly, Skills for Life Trust, which has five academies in Kent, said it will not reopen for children of people who aren’t key workers until it is ensured staff, pupils and parents will be safe.
A letter to parents said: “Going forward, if we were to predict what might happen over the next year, quite possibly the ‘new normal’ may well need to engage school pupils in both school and home learning because a vaccine is unlikely to be found for around one year.
There are no plans yet to follow suit in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and teachers’ unions have expressed fears that the move would be too soon due to the risks of infection from coronavirus. But Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has defended the approach, saying he arranged Friday’s meeting to brief teachers’ representatives on
“the scientific advice underpinning our approach”. Mr Williamson said if the scientists said a “limited number” of children could be sent back to school, it was his duty to allow this to happen.
The government hopes all primary children will return to school before the summer break, for a month if possible. Stephen Curran, an education expert who has lived in Kent his whole life, said the government is correct in saying youngsters in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 have been hit hard by the closures, and says children could progress through school at a “real disadvantage”.
He said: “Reception and Year 1 children are learning basic numeracy and literacy and not going back will be a real setback for their development. “Year 6 children are about to go up to secondary school and this interruption to their development in numeracy and literacy will have seriously affected the progress of many. “Without some interventions they will enter secondary school at a severe disadvantage.
“It is a hole in their education that the school will struggle to make up even if the children return in June.
“If children leave primary school without a decent level of numeracy and literacy they will probably struggle right through their secondary education.” The leader of one of the country’s biggest academy trusts also believes keeping schools closed adversely affects those from low income households.
Rev Steve Chalke runs the Oasis Trust, which incorporates 52 academies in England, including the Oasis Academy Skinner Street in Medway and one on the Isle of Sheppey.
Mr Chalke believes it is important to reopen schools for children from lower income families, who don’t have access to fresh air, nutritious food or computers.
Mr Chalke added that 45% of children at Oasis are eligible for free school meals, compared to an average of 15%.
He told the BBC: “If you’re living in a tower block without a balcony, you’re not going out and there’s not a park nearby, if you have no digital access then the mental health issues for you and your parents are considerable. “Covid-19 has attacked those who are most vulnerable.
“It’s caused mental health issues for those who are most crammed in, it’s caused nutritional issues for those who don’t have access to food and some of those injustices that we are set up to address that is what Oasis does all the time and it’s what we want to do now.”
The leader added however that members of staff will not be pressured into returning to work, and said measures will be put into place to make sure everyone is safe.