Our children must get to school – and we’re making that happen
TOMORROW the Government launches its #backtoschoolsafely campaign to reassure parents and students that schools and colleges are ready ahead of the full return of pupils at the start of term. It’s a national priority to get all children back to school in September. It’s where they need to be, not just for their education but for their development and wellbeing. Ahead of their return, we know there are challenges.
These children will need lots of support when they return, but one thing is clear: they must return.
Mounting research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Education Policy Institute and the NSPCC, among others, show that the risks of not returning are too high to ignore.
As for the risk from Covid-19 in schools, evidence so far indicates that schools do not appear to be a primary driver of coronavirus infections in the community.
We are working with Public Health England to analyse new evidence as it is made available and updating our guidance on how schools manage any risks.
Most importantly, protective measures we have asked schools to implement rely on assumptions that children transmit the virus at the same rate as adults.
By grouping children into consistent “bubbles”, staggering start and finish times and implementing rigorous hygiene measures, we can be confident the risk is reduced to allow all children to get back into the classroom. It is all of this that is boosting parents’ confidence about the return to school – confidence that is well placed and down to the hard work of school staff throughout the country who are working through the summer to put in place those protective measures ahead of September.
Teachers are going above and beyond to do this because they want to do their jobs, educating children, helping them to become productive members of society and giving them a place within it. Children learn best in schools and teachers are role models in their lives, developing relationships of support and nurturing their ability.
That is why getting all kids back into schools, where the scientific and health advice enables this, has always been a priority. It is not political. It is right.
There is one group of children for whom this is doubly important: disadvantaged young people, who are too often held back in life because of the circumstances in which they were born.
Of the £1billion Covid Catch Up Fund to help tackle lost teaching time, £350million of it will be used for a National Tutoring Programme specifically to support the most disadvantaged.
An interesting statistic: two hours of tutoring per week for 12 weeks can result in five months of academic catch up.
As with all parents, I am immensely proud of what my two girls have achieved over the last few years – but also the last few months, and for all students who have and will receive exam grades this month.
I know that it was not easy for students to find out that they were unable to sit an exam. It was not a decision taken lightly, and no system that was put in place was going to be able to replicate the exams process. But the calculated grade overseen by Ofqual makes certain that everyone can be confident that these qualifications carry the same weight as previous years.
The good news from Ucas, the university and college admissions service, is that even more students have confirmed places on their first choice courses than last year.
And our triple lock process means if any young person is unhappy with their result, they can appeal on the basis of a valid mock exam and, in England, have the chance to sit exams in the autumn.
IHOPE that every single young person can progress on to the next step that truly excites and challenges them – whether that be at university, in technical education, an apprenticeship or the start of an amazing career. As this generation of students moves forward, so too must we look to the future.
Already we’re seeing fantastic examples of schools putting in place additional help for students in the coming academic year.
Schools like Trinity Catholic Primary School in the North West, which has provided extra English and maths tuition for Pupil Premium students in year 6 or the “6into7 project” run by the Association of School and College Leaders involving 1,000 schools, that is helping children transitioning from primary into secondary school.
It builds on our record £14.4billion investment over three years into schools and our £1billion rebuilding programme to transform schools in every region of the country, from Surrey to Sunderland and Bristol to Blackpool, to level up education in all regions.
We are doing this to meet our promise: to get education back on track, because it is morally, socially and economically necessary. There is simply no substitute for the classroom, and the education and wellbeing of children must come first as we move forward as a country.