Summer lessons will be offered to children leaving primary school and all secondary pupils as part of a £700million catch-up package designed to reverse the impact of Covid on education.
Under plans to be announced today, secondaries will offer face-to-face teaching over the holidays, with ministers keen to see summer classes for incoming Year 7 pupils.
The summer schools will be funded with £200million from the package. A £302million Recovery Premium will also see every primary school handed £6,000 and secondaries £22,000 each to fund further support for pupils most in need.
Summer lessons will be offered to children leaving primary school and all secondary pupils as part of a £700million catch-up package designed to reverse the impact of Covid on education. Pictured: Boris Johnson takes part in an online lesson during a visit to Sedgehill School in Lewisham, south east London, on February 23
Boris Johnson (pictured) said: ‘Teachers and parents have done an heroic job with home schooling, but we know the classroom is the best place for our children to be. ‘When schools reopen and face-to-face education resumes on March 8 our next priority will be ensuring no child is left behind as a result of the learning they have lost over the past year’
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured) said: ‘Our package of measures will deliver vital support to the children and young people who need it most, making sure everyone has the same opportunity to fulfil their potential no matter their background’
The Department for Education said this will come on top of another £200million in funding for the National Tutoring Programme and other tuition schemes and could be spent on extra clubs, activities or teaching for those who have fallen behind.
However, radical measures previously discussed, like permanently trimming the summer holidays or lengthening the school day, do not figure in the plans.
Boris Johnson said: ‘Teachers and parents have done an heroic job with home schooling, but we know the classroom is the best place for our children to be.
‘When schools reopen and face-to-face education resumes on March 8 our next priority will be ensuring no child is left behind as a result of the learning they have lost over the past year.
Under plans to be announced today, secondaries will offer face-to-face teaching over the holidays, with ministers keen to see summer classes for incoming Year 7 pupils (file image)
However, radical measures previously discussed, like permanently trimming the summer holidays or lengthening the school day, do not figure in the plans
‘This extensive programme of catch-up funding will equip teachers with the tools and resources they need to support their pupils and give children the opportunities they deserve to learn and fulfil their potential.’
An extra £18million is being directed to support language development in the early years sector to try to stop the very youngest children being permanently disadvantaged.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: ‘Our package of measures will deliver vital support to the children and young people who need it most, making sure everyone has the same opportunity to fulfil their potential no matter their background.
‘I know that longer-term support over the length of this Parliament will be vital to ensure children make up for lost learning. Our Education Recovery Commissioner Sir Kevan Collins will be engaging with teachers, school and college leaders and families over the coming weeks and months to develop our longer term plans.’
The announcement comes ahead of details expected to be released tomorrow on the replacement scheme for this year’s cancelled GCSEs and A-levels (file image)
The summer schools will be funded with £200million from the package. A £302million Recovery Premium will also see every primary school handed £6,000 and secondaries £22,000 each to fund further support for pupils most in need (file image)
An extra £18million is being directed to support language development in the early years sector to try to stop the very youngest children being permanently disadvantaged. Pictured: Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits Sedgehill School in south east London on February 23
Geoff Barton (pictured), of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that while a slower return would have been more logical, there was a ‘whole range of different views’ among headteachers
The announcement comes ahead of details expected to be released tomorrow on the replacement scheme for this year’s cancelled GCSEs and A-levels.
The Times Educational Supplement reported that one aspect of the plan, which was to issue grades significantly earlier than normal – in early or mid-July – is now in doubt.
Exams regulator Ofqual will also need to clarify the potentially important role of ‘mini-exams’. Meanwhile, teaching unions yesterday appeared to back down in their opposition to Mr Johnson’s ‘big bang’ plan for all schools to return from March 8.
Last week the main unions signed an open letter demanding the PM ‘go no further than a phased return’, but their call was disregarded by the Government.
The National Education Union yesterday said its priority was ensuring schools had ‘robust safety measures’ instead of trying to block the reopenings.
Geoff Barton, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that while a slower return would have been more logical, there was a ‘whole range of different views’ among headteachers.
He added that, although mass testing presented a ‘huge logistical issue’ for larger schools, most teachers were ‘looking for ways of solving those problems’.
Scientists have warned that school reopenings could increase Covid’s reproduction rate by up to 50 per cent.