Government scraps primary school summer target and admits pupils may not be back by September

ALL school children may not be back in class full time for the September term, the Government confessed onTuesday.

The admission came as ministers confirmed they have scrapped a pledge to get all primary kids back in for a month before summer.

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Furious MPs and campaigners said the reopening of pubs and theme parks are being prioritised over children’s life chances.

They called for a “national ­crusade” to create “Nightingale schools” in village halls and churches to get kids learning again.

A government source said they expect schools to reopen for “more pupils” by September but are ­taking a “cautious approach”.

Education Secretary Gavin ­Williamson told MPs he hopes all kids will return to class in September, but fell short of promising to.

He said: “While we are not able to welcome all primary children back for a full month before the summer, we continue to work with the sector on the next steps.

“We would like to see schools who have the capacity to bring back more children in those smaller class sizes, to do so if they are able to do before the summer holidays. We will be working to bring all children back to school in September.”

His words left the door open to only bringing kids back to school part time, with remote home learning carrying on.

It came as:

• MR Williamson said new minimum standards of education for remote teaching are being drawn up to stop kids stuck at home falling behind;
• FIGURES show 52 per cent of primaries followed orders to reopen by last Thursday, with around a quarter of eligible kids going in;
• MINISTERS suggested primaries will have “priority lists” of pupils they will give a place to, based on how urgently their parents need childcare;
• AMBITIOUS plans to help children catch up after the schools shutdown are being worked up;
• GCSES, A-levels and other exams will go ahead next year, it was confirmed.

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Primary schools began reopening for nursery, reception and Years One and Six last week.

But they have been told to bring in social distancing and cap their classes at 15 to protect their pupils from coronavirus. This means heads will need twice as many classrooms and teachers to get all their pupils back in full time.

Downing Street scaled back their targets after admitting many schools simply do not have the space to do this.

Quizzed in the Commons, Mr Williamson said he was desperate to ensure “there is not a generation of children who miss out” in the schools shutdown.

But in a hint a big dose of home-schooling is here to stay, he said a new “basic minimum curriculum” for remote teaching is being drawn up.

He suggested schools may only be able to return to full capacity when the protective bubble system is no longer needed. He said: “We do have limitations — where we have a limit of 15 children per class that obviously does limit the ability to have as many year groups in school as we like.

“But as this is changed and as this is modified, this will give us the ability to slowly and cautiously move forward in terms of welcoming more children back to school when that is the right time.”

Mr Williamson suggested it may take more than a year for kids to catch up on their studies. And he said the Government is working on an ambitious plan which will give children extra support. But ministers faced a furious backlash over the moves.

Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield warned a massive “educational gap” is being created by keeping schools shut for many kids.

She said: “Look at some of the things the Government has prioritised over recent months at vast scale and speed — the measures to save jobs, the 4,000-bed hospitals, propping up the economy. All of those things have happened in a way that is unimaginable. It’s that level of will and determination that’s needed.”

She warned that kids’ lives risk being furloughed unless action is taken. She said: “We’re seeing a situation where theme parks are going to be open in a month’s time, shops, pubs and restaurants but still children are not back in school.”

Steve Chalke, head of the Oasis academy schools chain, told The Sun there needs to be a “national crusade” to find community spaces to teach kids in.

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He said: “I am saying to community leaders give us your halls, give us your hotel lobbies, your church halls, mosque halls — the spaces big enough for a bubble. Give us those. They are stood there empty, doing nothing. We can use those spaces to teach kids.”

And he said it was predictable the “wheels would come off” the government’s policy because it has not been thought through. Meanwhile, calls to the NSPCC’s domestic abuse helpline have rocketed to their highest on record since lockdown was imposed.

Around 1,500 adults have called the charity about the risks posed to kids trapped behind closed doors since the end of March. Calls have shot up from around 140 a week before lockdown, to an average of around 185 a week since it was imposed.

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