Schools will open during the holidays under secret Government plans for summer camps
SCHOOLS will open in the summer holidays under secret Government plans.
Pupils are to be invited to attend summer camps to help stop them falling behind.
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The urgent plans emerged following Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s row with teaching unions holding up a return to the classroom.
The aim is to assist kids who teachers feel have lost out by not attending class since late March due to Covid-19.
It would be the first time since World War Two that pupils will have gone to school in the summer break.
At yesterday’s Downing Street press conference, Mr Williamson said: “We’re looking at different initiatives that we could maybe look at rolling out during the summer period.”
There is a consequence to this, the longer the schools close the more children miss out.
Gavin Williamson, Education Secretary
He confirmed ministers are going ahead with plans to get some primary pupils back to school on June 1, saying: “We owe it to the children.”
And in a thinly-veiled attack on the unions, minister Mr Williamson added: “There is a consequence to this, the longer the schools close the more children miss out.
“Teachers know that there are children out there that have not spoken or played with another child their own age for the last two months.”
He spoke as the first weekend since the easing of lockdown and travel restrictions was put under strain as people flock to beaches and parks.
But some day trippers were left confused by the latest social distancing rules.
Yesterday the daily Covid-19 death toll figure rose by 468, taking the total to 34,466.
Meanwhile, head teachers' union the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has now said it will be advising its members to reopen schools on June 1, reports .
Its leaders met with the government's chief medical officer and chief scientific officer on Friday.
The National Association of Head Teachers has also suggested it would back reopening primaries if it was given the government’s full scientific advice.
Five former education secretaries - Labour's Alan Johnson and Charles Clarke, along with Tories Nicky Morgan, Damian Hinds and Justine Greening - have also backed the phased reopening of schools.
Other countries in Europe have already begun to reopen their schools, such as Denmark and Germany.
Ms Morgan said: "We know that there are children who rely on school for their hot meals and for teachers to be able to keep an eye on certain pupils to stop them coming to harm.
"Neither of these two things is currently happening."
The Department for Education issued guidelines on May 11 on how schools should enforce social distancing - including limiting class sizes to 15 students.
Schools are told to stagger lunch and break times, as well as drop-off and pick-up times, to reduce the number of pupils moving around at once.
It also said schools should look at bringing in a one-way system in corridors, or putting a divider in the middle to control the flow of kids.
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Ministers have admitted they cannot keep kids two metres away from each other all day, so each class will form a self-contained "bubble" so they don't mix with other kids at the schools.
And parents who remain too fearful to send their kids back to school should classes resume on June 1 will not be fined.
A spokesman for No10 said: "While we will not penalise [parents] for keeping children at home, once children are eligible to return to school we will strongly encourage them to do so."
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