Summer school will be needed for pupils

As children return to classrooms today, plan emerges to help vulnerable catch up

CHILDREN will need to attend classes over the summer to stop them falling behind, the Children’s Commissioner has said, as parents today begin to send pupils back to school.

Anne Longfield has urged ministers to set up summer camps for the most vulnerable students during July and August to help them catch up on the work they missed during lockdown.

The Daily Telegraph understands ministers are considering summer camps for disadvantaged children as well as a “catch-up premium”, where schools receive extra funding to spend on initiatives for vulnerable pupils.

An announcement is expected soon, but teacher unions have suggested they will refuse to back the plans if it means members have to work over the summer – setting up another row between the unions and the Government.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph today, Ms Longfield says unless the Government intervenes to set up learning programmes over the summer, children risk spending “a prolonged period” of up to six months out of school. She made the remarks as, also writing in this newspaper, Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, warned that the public must face up to the “uncomfortable truth” that the poorest children suffer most from being out of school.

Primary schools across the country are reopening today to children in Reception, Year One and Year Six for the first time in 10 weeks, and ministers have said the ambition is for all primary school pupils to return by the end of the month. Nurseries are also allowed to reopen from today.

It is part of a wider easing of lockdown, which will see people permitted to meet in groups of up to six outside, as long as they observe social distancing. Outdoor retailers such as markets and car showrooms also reopen today.

No secondary school pupils will return to their classrooms until June 15, when students in Years 10 and 12 will return on a limited basis. It is unclear yet when other children will return, but any attempt to bring them back to the classroom over the summer holiday may be resisted by the unions.

The UK’S biggest education union said yesterday that teachers should not have their summer holiday cancelled to run children’s catch-up activities because they had been working “flat out” and needed a break.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “Teachers have been working flat out to provide education for children at home, so what should happen is – and we do support this – clubs and activities on a volunteer basis.”

Dr Bousted said that the emphasis of summer activities should not be on catch-up work but on socialising and creative activities, adding this would “enable them to become part of wider society and have the desire to learn again”.

Ms Longfield has called for a “national effort” to set up a summer programme of education, sport, art and support for the most deprived.

“Based in school buildings and running throughout the holidays, summer schools could provide activities of all kinds, meals and potentially some learning too,” she said.

“The idea is likely to be popular with parents, who, however well-intentioned and motivated, may need a break from home schooling and may

also be in desperate need of childcare as they return to work.”

The plans to begin a phased reopening of primary schools this week have been met with staunch opposition from the NEU and other unions as well as dozens of local councils who insist it remains unsafe.

Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Williamson said: “While I fully understand the nervousness that some will feel, I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to start providing more children with the opportunity to be in the classroom once more.

“While everyone has worked so hard to support learning at home, this can never be a substitute to being in nursery or school – with all the inspiration and motivation they provide.”

About 90 per cent of primary schools reopen either this week or next, according to the National Association of Head teachers.

The majority (78 per cent) intend to open with a smaller number of year groups than the amount recommended by the Government, with 12 per cent intending to open completely in line with ministers’ proposals.

The remaining 10 per cent say they will not allow any pupils, other than the most vulnerable and children of key workers, to return in the next fortnight.

A study by the National Foundation for Educational Research found that over a quarter (29 per cent) of teachers will not come into school this week and will instead opt to work from home.

Almost half of parents (46 per cent) intend to keep their children at home rather than send them back to school, according to their report, which rises to 50 per cent in the most deprived communities. A separate poll, by the Early Years Alliance, found under half (45 per cent) of parents intended to send toddlers back to nursery today, with many opposed citing concerns about their children’s safety. Neil Leitch, of the alliance, which represents 14,000 nurseries, pre-schools and childminders, said the sector faced a “struggle for survival”.

He said most nurseries were expecting to operate at a loss for the next six months, adding: “It is no exaggeration to say that the very future of the childcare sector is at risk if the Government doesn’t get its act together and provide the support that providers need.”

Last night Dr Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer, said that children’s playgrounds would not reopen “in the immediate future”.