Schools likely to be short of teachers
SCHOOLS ACROSS England expect a large number of pupils and teaching staff not to return to the classroom this week, despite the easing of coronavirus lockdown measures.
More than a quarter (29 per cent) of available teachers will only be able to work from home, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) study, prompting fears that shortages will affect schools’ ability to provide the same level of teaching quality.
The report also suggests that heads are expecting nearly half of families to keep their children at home.
Primary schools have been told to reopen to pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 from today, with nurseries also expected to resume sessions.
However some councils, including Calderdale, Sheffield and Bradford, are advising schools against reopening more widely,
A National Foundation for Educational Research report. citing concerns over safety. It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Thursday that the Government’s five key tests required for the easing of the lockdown had been met.
The NFER study finds that school leaders with the highest proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals estimate that more of their families (50 per cent) will keep pupils at home, compared with an estimated 42 per cent from school leaders with the lowest proportion of freemeal pupils.
It raises concerns that pupils in most need of education “will be least likely to receive it”, the report says.
Meanwhile, a separate poll by the Early Years Alliance found that only 45 per cent of parents whose childcare providers are opening from today are planning to take up their place.
More than two-thirds of providers expect to operate at a loss in the next six months, the research found.
More than 20 councils mainly in the North of England are advising schools not to open to more pupils this week, with some expressing fears that the NHS Test and Trace system is not “robust enough” to help.
Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said children should not go back until June 15 when the infection rate should be lower.
She accused the Government of “just making it up as it goes along”, claiming it had revised plans on schools reopening 41 times “as things they have forgotten, things they didn’t know, and things they got wrong had to be added in”. She said the Government had now “given up on social distancing in schools” and favoured “cohort distancing”, where children are taught in groups of 15. Ms Bousted said it was wrong to open up when the infection rate was still the fifth highest in the world and without a fully functioning test, trace and isolate system in place.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said decisions had been based on scientific advice and with the welfare of children and staff a key consideration.
He said: “This marks the first step in getting all children and young people back into classrooms so they can be with their friends and teachers again.
“I’m enormously grateful for all the planning and preparation the sector has done in the lead up to welcoming these first pupils back.”
Pupils in most need of education will be least likely to receive it.