Summer schools 'will be needed to stop pupils falling behind'

Children will need to attend classes over the summer to stop them falling behind, the Children’s Commissioner has said as parents on Monday start to send pupils back to school.

Anne Longfield has urged ministers to set up summer camps for the most vulnerable students during July and August to help them catch up on the school work they have missed during lockdown.

The Telegraph understands that ministers are considering summer camps for disadvantaged children as well as a “catch up premium” - where schools are given extra funding to spend on initiatives for vulnerable pupils.

An announcement is expected in the coming weeks, but teacher unions have suggested that they will refuse to back the plans if it means their members will need to work over the summer, setting up another row between the unions and the government.  Writing for The Telegraph, Ms Longfield says that unless the Government intervenes to set up learning programmes over the summer, children risk spending “a prolonged period” of up to six months out of school.

Her remarks come as, also writing in The Telegraph, Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, warns that the public must face up to the “uncomfortable truth” that the poorest children suffer most from being out of school. 

Primary schools across the country are reopening on Monday to children in Reception, Year One and Year Six for the first time in ten weeks, and ministers have said that the ambition is for all primary school pupils to return by the end of the month. Nurseries are also allowed to reopen from today.

It is part of a wider easing of lockdown from Monday, which will see people permitted to meet in groups of up to six outside as long as they observe social distancing. Outdoor retailers such as markets and car showrooms also reopen today.

No secondary school pupils will return to their classrooms until June 15, when students in years 10 and 12 will return on a limited basis.

It is not clear yet when other children will return, but any attempt to bring them back to classrooms over the summer holiday may be resisted by teaching unions.

The UK’s biggest education union said on Sunday that teachers should not have their summer holiday cancelled to run children’s catch up activities because they have been working “flat out” and need a break.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said that teachers should not be expected to work during the summer.

“Teachers have been working flat out to provide education for children at home,” she told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday. “So what should happen is – and we do support this – clubs and activities on a volunteer basis.”

Dr Bousted said that the emphasis of summer activities should not be on “catch up” work but rather on socializing and creative activities, explaining that this will “enable them to become part of a wider society and have the desire to learn again”.

Ms Longfield has called for a “national effort” to set up a summer programme of education, sport, art and support for the most deprived youngsters.

“Based in school buildings and running throughout the holidays, summer schools could provide activities of all kinds, meals and potentially some learning too,” she said.

“The idea is also likely to be popular with parents, who however well-intentioned and motivated may need a break from home schooling and may also be in desperate need of childcare as they return to work.”

The Government’s plans to begin a phased reopening of primary schools this week have been met with staunch opposition from the NEU and other unions as well as dozens of local councils who insist it remains unsafe.

Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Williamson said: “While I fully understand the nervousness that some will feel, I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to start providing more children with the opportunity to be in the classroom once more.

“While everyone has worked so hard to support learning at home, this can never be a substitute to being in nursery or school – with all the inspiration and motivation they provide. As we all know, there simply is no substitute for a teacher sharing their passion for learning with our children.”

Around 90 per cent of primary schools will reopen either this week or next, according to a poll by the National Association of Headteachers.

The majority (78 per cent) intend to open with a smaller number of year groups than the amount recommended by the Government, with 12 per cent intending to open completely in line with ministers’ proposals.

The remaining ten per cent of schools say they will not allow any pupils - other than the most vulnerable and the children of key workers – to return in the next fortnight.

Dr Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer, on Sunday night said said that children’s playgrounds will not reopen “in the immediate future”.

She told the Downing Street daily press conference that playgrounds are “not a good place to be at the moment” since children from multiple households “will be climbing up slides, wiping their nose and pushing it down the side of the slide”.

Read more: Inside the army of private tutors keeping wealthy kids' education on track this summer