Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green MP tabled an urgent question on Tuesday, asking the Department for Education to make a statement on the Government’s plan for the reopening of educational settings.
Schools Minister Nick Gibb was at the despatch box to respond. He said that the Government has been clear that education is a national priority, however the scientific advice was to close educational settings to all but vulnerable children and the children of critical workers. He went on to say that DfE are ‘acutely aware of the damage done to children’s education and development, particularly for the most disadvantaged pupils, by being away from school, and of the increased burdens that are placed on parents’, and as such schools reopening will be a priority in the process of lifting lockdown restrictions.
Kate Green further pressed Nick Gibb for a clear plan for reopening schools. She said that we now need clarity on what metrics will be used to justify reopening, on the order year groups will return, on what provision there will be for catch up, and also asked why the Government had repeatedly ruled out the use of rotas.
Nick Gibb said that schools would receive two weeks notice of any plans to reopen, allowing school leaders time to make arrangements. The decision to reopen, he said, would be based on clear public health data, such as hospitalisation rates, and guided by scientific evidence. He did not yet lay out what this will look like in practice.
The need for a clear roadmap for schools out of current closures has been a central part of Schools North East’s lobbying work this week, and we sent a survey out at the beginning of the week to this effect. We will use the feedback from this survey to write to the Secretary of State, developing a roadmap for reopening schools that allows school leaders the flexibility to respond to their local circumstances. You can help inform this by filling out our survey at the following link.
Chair of the education select committee, Robert Halfon MP, asked the minister if mental health practitioners in all schools. Nick Gibb said that the DfE is committed to introducing the new mental health support teams for schools and colleges, with a new £8 million training initiative for school staff to support children’s wellbeing. It is encouraging that discussions are being had that include mental wellbeing as well as academic catch up as schools deal with the impact of the pandemic, and we will further highlight this during our Healthy MindED Conference 2021.
Stockton North MP, Alex Cunningham, also asked a question. In December, we were glad to welcome Alex Cunningham to one of our MP roundtables, held virtually with school leaders within his constituency. His question in the House of Commons reflected the issues raised in this roundtable, as he highlighted the financial costs for all schools, but especially the impact this was having on those in disadvantaged areas and the need for extra funding to tackle the disadvantage gap. Nick Gibb pointed towards the three-year funding settlement secured in 2019, the £1 billion of funding for catch-up, and specific funds for covid-related costs.
It is encouraging that MPs are listening to the concerns of our schools, following on from our series of roundtables. As questions asked in the House of Commons, other MPs have followed up on the roundtables with letters to relevant ministers. We have so far hosted 12 of the region’s 29 MPs between December and January, and plan to reach all MPs over the course of this year, as well as further sessions with those who have already attended.
