Clare Wagner:

Testing, tailored lessons and even Saturday school can all play a part in getting pupils back up to speed

Headteachers across the country have put the final touches to their plans for reopening their schools this week. Risk assessments have been written, teaching timetables adapted and measures put in place to reduce the transmission of the Covid-19 virus. The new term has begun.

While the health and safety of pupils and staff is of course paramount, the main issue facing teachers is how much learning pupils have missed, and what can be done to help them to catch up. Yesterday, the National Foundation for Educational Research reported that a majority of children in England are at least three months behind in their studies, with boys and poor pupils worst hit. Though based on the conjecture of teachers, rather than hard data, the authors were gloomy in their prognosis that a quick catch-up is unlikely.

Nevertheless, the only real way that school leaders and teachers can measure how far individual children have fallen behind is to have the pupils in the classroom and to assess where they are.

Teachers need to know what each child may have forgotten, and what they did and did not learn during lockdown. Assessments in the form of written tests can be used to test gaps in learning, as well as suitably planned lessons that include effective questioning. To have even half a chance of making up for all the lost classroom time, this is what needs to happen first.

At my school, we will be testing the children in the hierarchical subjects – Maths, English, Science, Modern Foreign Languages and Latin – within the first four weeks of their return. Children need to be firm in their knowledge of these “building block” subjects and cannot move on if there are significant gaps.

Once teachers have this information, they can plan what has to be taught or re-taught, either through whole class teaching, or, if possible, through tailored teaching of smaller groups. If school resources allow, these extra lessons could take place during lunchtime, after school, or possibly even on Saturdays and during school holidays and half terms. It might sound extreme, and may cost money, but the future of many of our children depends on the effort that is put in now.

The new National Tutoring Programme may help with this. At my school we were fortunate to be working with the Thomas’s Foundation, which funded a summer school for the pupils about whom we were most worried in July and August. Many of those who attended were from disadvantaged backgrounds (36 per cent of our school is made up of disadvantaged pupils) and had not been able to access remote learning in the same way as most of their peers.

But it should also be remembered that not all pupils will need catch-up classes. Many of mine engaged extremely well with their remote lessons.

Online attendance was excellent in most year groups, but particularly in Years 10 and 12. A large cohort produced high-quality work which was submitted, marked and returned to them.

While I am keen that none of my pupils falls behind due to the closure of the school, I am also determined that those who are not behind carry on with the curriculum. I do not want them sitting in lessons going over material that they studied and absorbed in lockdown.

This extends to areas outside the basic curriculum, too. Children deserve a broad and balanced syllabus and to be taught excellent lessons, every day. This includes subjects such as Art, Music, PE and so on, which in my school will be given the same emphasis as they have always enjoyed. Neither does the government guidance prohibit the delivery of a strong co-curricular offer, so clubs, after-school activities and day trips can continue as usual. Indeed, schools should remember that a lack of after-school clubs has a knock-on effect on families as a whole. For many parents, a full return to work is impossible without them.

It is true that children found lockdown difficult. Many took time to adjust to remote learning. Some found online teaching difficult to access; others just found it too much of a challenge, especially if they were at home with parents who were trying to work themselves. It has not been easy for anyone.

But this is a new term and a new academic year. Our children, who have missed so much face-to-face schooling in the last six months, deserve to move forward in their learning, to be in schools in which the lessons are excellent and they make tangible progress every day. School should be a place of wonder, where all subjects are taught to the highest standards by teachers who are passionate about their areas of expertise.

All the teachers I know are so excited to finally welcome back their pupils. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and make this happen. Let’s ensure that we are not so distracted by Covid-19 that we forget what the purpose of school should really be.

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