Welsh schools ‘fully open in September’
SCHOOLS in Wales will be open full time for all pupils in September, Education Minister Kirsty Williams confirmed yesterday.
She said that children would be grouped together in “contact groups” of around 30 pupils – the size of a primary school class.
Ms Williams said that only limited social distancing would be possible within the contact groups but that adults would be asked to continue to follow social-distancing rules.
She said that mixing of contact groups would be unavoidable on transport, where specialist teaching was involved or where staffing constraints came into play.
Every school in Wales will be provided with a supply of home testing kits in case of people at the school developing symptoms.
Schools are being given the option to open either on September 1 or September 14.
The two-week window will give head teachers time to prepare or to have key exam year groups back two weeks earlier, Ms Williams said.
The Welsh Government is providing
an extra £29m to schools this year to recruit 600 teachers and 300 teaching assistants to help pupils whose education has been hardest hit by the lockdown.
Ms Williams said that Wales’ scientific advice body, the Technical Advisory Group, had recommended the return to school in September.
Its advice recommended that the minister “plan to open in September with 100% of pupils physically present on school sites, subject to a continuing, steady decline in the presence of Covid-19 in the community”.
She said that nurseries and other childcare settings would be supported to increase the size of their contact groups and move towards full operations. She said that full guidance for schools and nurseries would follow later.
Ms Williams said she was building on scientific advice and experience of schools reopening in phases for the last weeks of this term:
“I am able to announce that the autumn term in Wales will start on Tuesday, September 1.
“All schools that can accommodate all pupils from the start of the term should do so.
“There will be a period of flexibility in recognition that schools may want to focus on priority year groups, such as those new to secondary schools, those sitting exams next summer or those in reception classes. This already happens in many schools, and we have been learning from practice elsewhere.
“It will also allow time, up to a fortnight, for any planning and reorganisation.”
And she added: “”Every decision we have made has been backed by the latest available scientific and medical guidance. Thanks to Wales’ cautious and careful approach, Covid’s presence in our communities is declining. In the expectation that this will continue, the advice to me is that schools can plan to open in September, with all pupils present.”
Head teachers and unions in Wales have been frustrated by the late details from the Welsh Government, saying it left less time to prepare.
Schools reopened on June 29 for the last few weeks of the summer term.
Teaching unions, including the National Education Union Cymru and the NASUWT Cymru, said they would have preferred a September reopening. Unison, which represents teaching assistants and other staff, had warned it was not safe to return in June.
Last weekend, doctors and a parent
campaign group called for full re-opening of schools, and yesterday the Welsh Government announced an extra £29m to help recruit more school staff in light of the coronavirus.
Some unions welcomed the plans for a full return.
Dilwyn Roberts-Young, UCAC general secretary, said: “Head teachers and teachers have worked tirelessly to ensure that arrangements for reopening schools have created a safe environment for pupils.
“This builds on the work that took place throughout the period of school closures.
“With the statement from the Education Minister we can now look forward to welcoming pupils back to our schools in September and we await the publication of the guidelines for reopening.
“However, with the guidance being published so late in the day, there will need to be some forbearance in relation to preparation for the reopening during the first few weeks of the autumn term.
“We welcome the investment in new posts; careful planning will be needed in order to respond to the needs of schools and to ensure opportunities for supply teachers and newly qualified teachers.
“We welcome the Minister for Education’s recognition of the heroic work of head teachers, teachers and all school staff over recent months.
“UCAC will continue to work at a national, regional and local level to ensure the wellbeing of our members as they ensure the highest-quality education for pupils.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said yesterday: “NAHT shares Welsh Government’s ambition to get all pupils back to school in September. Every school leader wants to see all pupils return to school as soon as it is safe to do so.
“Today Welsh Government has indicated that it believes that it will be safe for all pupils to return at the start of the autumn term.
“This is a significant moment and I welcome the publications of the scientific advice that underpins Welsh Government’s thinking.
“No-one should underestimate the scale of the task involved in the full reopening of our schools, however, we welcome a transition period to enable schools to get children and staff back to normal and the recognition that there isn’t a onesize-fits-all approach to reopening schools.”
Ruth Davies, NAHT president and head teacher of Waunarlwydd Primary School, near Swansea, said: “In many ways this is the easy part, the bigger challenge and crucial next step will be for Welsh Government to supply the logistical detail to accompany the broad plan; clear and comprehensive guidance will be crucial to its success. We expect to see this in the coming days.
“Throughout the current crisis, school leaders have demonstrated a remarkable ability to transform their schools and adapt to the latest guidance, there is no doubt that they will be able to do so again.
“NAHT will continue to work with Welsh Government to highlight areas of concern and ensure that we have the best possible chance of a successful return to school in September.”
Siân Gwenllian MS, Plaid Cymru shadow minister for Education, Culture and the Welsh Language said: “The announcement of a plan to reopen schools for all children in Wales is welcome, if not long overdue.
“While it is not clear why the announcement has taken so long when Scotland and Northern Ireland published their guidance back in early May and June, this will be good news for pupils’ education as the interaction between pupils and their teacher is of paramount importance to their learning and wellbeing.
“Schools will now have just over 50 days to prepare their premises to welcome all pupils back safely, and I, like others, await the full guidance from Welsh Government.
“The creation of 900 new posts is also welcome news for the sector.
“The quicker these can be established throughout our education system, the better able we’ll be to address the attainment gap and ensure no child has been left behind from this pandemic.”
THE Education Minister’s announcement that all schools can open to all pupils, full time in September must be welcomed. It is one more step to a return to some sort of normality after Covid-19 disrupted all our lives.
Some are frustrated that Wales lagged behind other UK nations in announcing its plans for the start of the new academic year.
There was disagreement among unions, the Welsh Government, local councils and even the Chief Medical Officer about the June 29 phased return; whether or not August or September would have been better and whether or not schools should have been able to open for an extra fourth week at the end of this term.
Now, for the sake of our young people and the teaching profession, all concerned must come together to make the return in September work the best it can.
Enough chaos has already been caused by the virus.
The closure of schools and cancellation of exams in March threw the whole system into uncertainty.
It has been a worrying and stressful time for learners, parents and all school staff.
There may be more worry and stress ahead. This is a time to pull together in the face of a virus we still don’t understand enough to go ahead with full confidence in all we do.
We must use caution but not be scared to balance risks as we dip our toe in to return to some semblance of the lives we lived.
School staff and headteachers must be thanked and recognised for their work throughout what has been the most extraordinary term of their careers.
Some parents are frustrated that remote learning has not always worked well. Others are frightened to send their children back to classes. They must now work with schools to support the best possible start to the academic year.
The virus is not going away any time soon. We must learn to live with it.
The Education Minister has taken advice and implemented what seems a sensible scheme. She has told schools they must plan to return to full-time distance learning if the need arises. Let’s hope it doesn’t.
Returning to school will help restore confidence not just to pupils, staff and families, but also to the wider community, It was shocking to see schools shut and children locked out of playgrounds.
Their return will be a much needed morale boost all round.