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CHILDREN could be given the chance to go back to school part-time before the summer holidays under plans being drawn up by ministers.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is considering allowing kids of all ages to return on a rota basis.

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 Mr Williamson ordered Britain’s top scientific group – Sage – to work out how to reopen schools safely
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Mr Williamson ordered Britain’s top scientific group – Sage – to work out how to reopen schools safelyCredit: PA:Press Association

One option would be to let year groups at a crunch moment in their studies back first.

This could include 11 year-olds moving from primary school to secondary, or pupils doing GCSEs or A Levels. Another option is opening primary schools first and secondary schools later.

A source said: “Ministers are determined to give every child the chance to get back into the classroom in some form before schools break up for summer.”

Mr Williamson told MPs at the Education Select Committee: “When we bring schools back — and I think everyone wants to see schools returning — they will be returned in a phased manner.

“We recognise that the idea of schools all returning on day one with the full complement of pupils is not practical.”

He added schools will not open through the summer holidays to offer catch-up classes.

Teachers are due holidays, with many having carried on working for vulnerable and key worker children, or preparing home-school lessons.

Mr Williamson has ordered scientists to work out how to reopen schools safely and expects their answers soon.

But there are growing fears poorer kids are being left behind in the lockdown. And education chiefs worry that will become worse the longer it goes on.

 Children of key workers have still been allowed to attend school during the lockdown
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Children of key workers have still been allowed to attend school during the lockdownCredit: PA:Press Association
 Ministers are determined to give every child a chance to get back in the classroom before summer holidays, a source claimed
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Ministers are determined to give every child a chance to get back in the classroom before summer holidays, a source claimedCredit: EPA
 Only one in every 100 pupils eligble to keep going to school in lockdown are actually doing so
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Only one in every 100 pupils eligble to keep going to school in lockdown are actually doing soCredit: Reuters

Alarming figures released last week revealed only around one in every 100 pupils eligible to keep going to school in the lockdown are actually doing so.

Deputy chief medical officer Prof Jonathan Van-Tam told Downing Street press conference: “I am absolutely clear that it was the right thing to do to close schools when we did.

“Equally we now have to be very careful indeed about how we reverse social distancing measures and when we do it.”

School bosses will have to work out how to impose social distancing in classrooms while convincing worried parents it is safe for them to send their offspring back.

Teachers have suggested that kids could alternate their schooling, spending one week in class and one week at home, to slash the number of pupils in school at any one time. But they have warned that it is unrealistic to expect small kids in school to stay two metres away from each other.

Mr Williamson said the Government is looking closely at countries like Germany and Denmark, who have already announced the return of their schools.

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In Denmark nurseries, kindergartens and primary schools started reopening on April 15.

In Germany some pupils have headed back for their final exams.

Meanwhile France is reopening schools and creches from May 11, with classes limited to a maximum of 15. But Italy, one of the country's hardest hit by coronavirus, is not reopening schools until September.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he is pleased the return of schools looks like being done in a “phased manner”.

He added: “There are various possibilities, including prioritising some year groups who are at crucial stages in their education, as well as disadvantaged children from other year groups, or using a rota system for all pupils, perhaps with one-week in school followed by one-week learning from home.”

 Mr Williamson said the Government is looking closely at Germany and Denmark who have already announced the return of their schools
Mr Williamson said the Government is looking closely at Germany and Denmark who have already announced the return of their schools

The Sun Says

THE damage being done to our kids’ ­education is a disaster.

So it is good to hear Education Secretary Gavin Williamson planning a phased or part-time return for schools.

That said, the prospect of older pupils having another two full months at home and then the summer off will fill many of them and their parents with dread.

Weeks have now gone by under ­lockdown. While some schools have done an admirable job keeping pupils busy, setting work and insisting on it being finished, others have not.

The gap between the best state and private schools and the rest grows ever wider. Deprived and vulnerable children drop further behind by the day.

The overall pupil percentage receiving daily online tuition is worryingly small, according to the Sutton Trust educational charity. And while kids remain at home, their parents cannot go out to work even if they are allowed to do so.

That is hammering the economy.

Meanwhile the toll on young people’s mental health is grim, cooped up with their families — and with their mates only available to them online, if at all.

We know the Government is nervous about any relaxation of restrictions, especially with Germany considering reimposing them. And Mr Williamson rightly insists he will be guided by the science. But the science is ambiguous.

A study by University College, London, found school closures had only a small impact on the virus’s spread.

­Norway has opened its primaries. Switzerland is doing the same, and letting under-tens hug their grand- parents because their scientists “know young children don’t transmit the virus”.

Our Government is of course doing what it thinks best. But it must continue to challenge our experts on why their evidence conflicts with that elsewhere.

The urgent need to rescue our economy holds equally for our children’s schooling.

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the National Education Union, said she was “relieved” schools will not be opening in the summer holidays.

She added: “When the scientific evidence allows for a return to school, a great deal of preparation will be needed.

“Issues such as how social distancing can be achieved and which year groups might be first during the phased return are extremely complex.”

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Gavin Williamson ‘cant give a date’ for schools to reopen after ministers rule out going back in just three weeks

 

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