Private schools ‘may keep Year 6 children at home despite advice’
SOME PRIVATE schools may consider keeping children in Year 6 at home when schools reopen more widely despite the Government’s advice to prioritise the cohort, an independent school chief has suggested.
Christopher King, chief executive of the Independent Association of Prep Schools (Iaps), which has more than 600 members, said he expects the majority of members in England to reopen to more pupils from June 1.
Independent schools have already begun making preparations for a wider reopening next month, with one fee-paying school planning to use thermal cameras to detect whether children have a temperature.
It comes after teaching unions and council leaders have voiced various concerns about the Government’s plans to allow children
in nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 to return to school from next month.
Mr King said he is anticipating that the vast majority of prep schools in England will open and will “welcome the opportunity to get started again”.
But he said some private schools may decide to remain closed to Year 6 pupils who can continue their virtual learning at home as they have been doing.
He said: “It could be that a few schools decide that they won’t open for Year 6 because there’s so much confidence now in the way in which the online teaching is going, and not enough confidence that parents will want to send their children back in large enough numbers.”
Mr King added: “Many prep schools, for example, offer subject specialist teaching by the time you get to Year 6. At the moment online the children will be getting that specialist education.
“The vast majority of schools are teaching a normal timetable with the specialist teacher in front of them, albeit remotely and virtually in that way.
“So the schools need to be confident that what they’re going to offer will be superior to what they can do online.”