Pupils’ online lessons cut to make time for Covid tests

SCHOOLS are reducing or even scrapping “live” online lessons for up to a fortnight because of the burden of carrying out mass testing of children.

Head teachers have said the need to divert resources towards testing secondary school pupils will cut interactive lessons ahead of the reopening of classrooms from March 8.

Many students, especially those aged 12 to 14 in Years 7, 8 and 9, may not return to class until as late as March 19 because of the time taken to test other years. But their online teaching may be curtailed in the meantime.

One secondary school in London wrote to parents last week, telling them to expect all students “back on site by Friday March 19 at the latest”.

Schools will then break up for the Easter holiday just two weeks later.

However, to allow for testing to take place, parents were told that “students not yet attending lessons on site will access all lessons via presentations and pre-recorded content”.

The move was necessary “to ensure that staff can be used to support with Covid testing and preparations for students’ return to school”.

Jules White, the head teacher of a 1,500-pupil school in West Sussex and founder of the Worth Less? grassroots school movement, said he predicted “10 to 14 days of fairly disrupted learning” while testing took place. He believed

members of his campaign group, representing several thousand head teachers, would be in the same position.

Mr White said: “Teaching will be interrupted and disrupted [during testing]. There are capacity issues and we need 12 to 15 staff to oversee the testing of 300 pupils a day before they can return.

“My school will try to continue with live [remote] lessons but it will be tricky,” he added.

In a letter to parents, Mr White wrote: “The logistics of meeting our obligations are considerable.”

He said he expected all students to be back in lessons by March 18, meaning it would take 10 days to complete the staggered return.

Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said “it would be understandable if some [schools] have to adapt their online programmes given the very significant logistical challenges involved in organising mass testing”.

However, he said any disruption to lessons would be “for only a short period of time”.

Under the Department for Education plan, all primary school students will return on March 8 for face-to-face teaching and with no requirement for a test. However, secondary school students will undergo three lateral flow tests – the quick but less accurate procedure that returns results in 30 minutes – in school.

The secondary pupils will then be provided with two tests each week to undertake at home as school continues. The tests are voluntary.

Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, has been careful to stress that secondary school students would be back “from March 8”, and careful not to

‘There are capacity issues and we need 12 to 15 staff to oversee testing of 300 pupils a day before they can return’

say that all students would be in classrooms “on March 8”.

Yesterday, the Government unveiled a scheme for entire families with children at school or college to test themselves. Parents and carers can apply for the free testing kits through a website that will go live today, or else collect them from workplaces or 500 sites around the country.

Mr Williamson said testing family members would “provide yet another layer of reassurance to parents and education staff that schools are as safe as possible”.