Sunday’s much anticipated announcement on extending the opening of schools brought the expected news that the Government aims for schools to reopen by 1st June. Surprisingly, while speculation had mainly been that this would be for Year 6, the announcement also included nursery, Reception and Year 1, putting an extra burden on primary schools planning for their reopening. However, the announcement failed to offer anything further in terms of guidance for school leaders leaving many with serious practical questions and significant concerns.
Further guidance raises more questions
Further guidance released earlier this week has largely failed to clarify the situation, and has actually raised further concerns. The guidance states that groups should be limited to 15 which, while helping with social distancing, puts pressure on staffing. A planning document from the Department for Education states that offers are expected to be on a full time basis. This will put even further pressure on schools where a part-time offer was being considered to make staffing and social distancing feasible.
Equally, a guidance statement released on Monday claimed: The Government’s ambition is for all primary school children to return to school before the summer for a month if feasible, though this will be kept under review.
This has obviously caused widespread concern about how primary schools will facilitate precautionary measures such as smaller groups sizes, social distancing and staggered break times with their full intake potentially back in school from 22nd June.
There are also questions around the purpose of specific years returning, particularly in regards to prioritising younger year groups over those with key exams next year. With the focus on Year 6 being about transition from Primary to Secondary, there are questions around what will be done to support their transition, as this often involves visits to their Secondary schools. A planning document released on Thursday night states: ‘Though visits to secondary schools for induction will not take place this year, some secondary schools may have capacity to undertake remote induction briefings or other types of sessions for pupils, for example to meet form tutors, heads of year, or other key staff, or have a tour of the school virtually. You should discuss the options with your secondary schools.‘
Furthermore there is no clarity around flexibility for this in a three tier system, where it is Years 4 and 8 which would be transitioning, removing the need for a return for Year 6 pupils in these schools.
Reaction
The announcement has generated significant criticism. Nine education unions have written a joint statement urging the Government to “step back” from plans to reopen schools from June 1 amid ongoing safety concerns. Some unions have encouraged members to contact school leaders about not engaging in plans to return, adding more pressure to staffing issues, and the planning process.
A further debate has been sparked over PPE for school staff, as DfE Guidance stated that the “majority of staff in education settings will not require PPE beyond what they would normally need for their work, even if they are not always able to maintain a distance of two metres from others”.
Additionally, there is a huge question of confidence amongst parents about sending their children to school. A recent survey from Parentkind showed a very mixed response from parents, but highlighted that 35% parents would not be comfortable sending their children back before September or before a vaccine is available. It has been confirmed that there will be no fines for non-attendance, further increasing the likelihood of parents keeping children at home.
Moving forwards
We know that all of our schools are working hard to plan for the possible extended opening, and we are here to support you in any way we can. You can help us do this by answering this very short survey on the planned return.
We will continue to monitor the situation to provide updates on guidance released and share advice on plans for reopening. Finally, as previously stated we urge the Government to only reopen schools when it is safe to do so and to give schools the proper guidance, as well as a level of flexibility to do this safely in their context.