‘Logic’ to targeting youngest pupils

There is a “great deal of logic” in targeting the nation’s youngest children to return to school first when the coronavirus lockdown lifts, the head of Ofsted has said.

Amanda Spielman said younger pupils need “routine” and, from parents’ perspectives, are those who need the most “care and oversight”.

In a TV interview, the Ofsted chief inspector also said it is in all children’s best interests that they return to the classroom “as soon as possible”, but there is no single “no-brainer answer” on how to do so.

Ms Spielman told Sky News: “There’s a great deal of logic in targeting younger children. We know that making normality for children is really important, the younger the children, the more they need that simple structured routine where they understand what’s happening.

“It’s hard for them to go to school one day and then not for another two weeks. So I entirely recognise and see the logic of this. I also think there’s a logic from the point of view of parents. The youngest children are the ones who need the greatest care and oversight.

“It’s hardest for parents to work and do all the other things they need to do if they’re also looking after perhaps several young children at the same time and trying to make sure they work through schoolwork remotely.

“If you look at the interests of children, it’s very clear that their interests are best served, in the vast majority of cases, by being back at school as soon as possible.”

Ms Spielman said it is in the “hands of the health experts” to say what is safe and how education could be organised, and she “wouldn’t want to second guess that for one moment”.

She believes many ideas about a return to school are being discussed, adding “as we can see from other countries, there doesn’t seem to be one no-brainer answer”.