Disruption to learning may continue next academic year

SCHOOL disruption could continue until Easter, the Government has admitted as it extends funding for a virtual academy.

The Oak National Academy – which was set up last year and has delivered millions of online lessons – has been granted £2.1million of taxpayer funding to remain open for another two terms.

The move will be seen as a tacit acknowledgement that ministers anticipate further turmoil to children’s education during the next academic year.

Plans are now under way to transfer the ownership of Oak National Academy’s brand, platform and associated intellectual property to the Department for Education (DFE).

The Reach Foundation, an education charity which runs the virtual school, has been asked by the DFE to “consult with its partners and stakeholders” about the change in ownership “as part of securing its long-term future”.

The Oak National Academy was launched in April 2020 by a group of teachers who wanted to create high quality online lessons and resources for children during the first lockdown.

It was initially backed by £500,000 of government funding and has since received a further £5million from DFE in 2020 to expand its online lessons.

More than a million pupils are now off school as a result of Covid, up from 839,700 the previous week, and a record high since March. This includes 774,000 children who have been forced to selfisolate because of a case at school, representing a 32 per cent increase in a week, according to latest data.

Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said: “From being set up by a small group of teachers in under two weeks, Oak National Academy has become one of the great success stories as we tackle the pandemic … The impact Oak has made and the good it has done for the sector and children is immeasurable, and we will now look for the best way to harness that for the future.”