education

Longer school days and shorter holidays could help children catch up

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The Government are ‘looking at’ an overhaul of the school system (Picture: Reuters)

Longer school days and shortened holidays could soon be on the cards for schoolchildren to help catch up on studies, the education secretary has said.

Gavin Williamson confirmed the Government is considering the measures as part of proposals to get pupils up to speed after months of missed face-to-face learning during the pandemic.

Speaking ahead of schools in England reopening to all pupils tomorrow, the education secretary said ministers are ‘looking at’ an overhaul of the entire school system.

He told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday: ‘There is a whole range of different proposals that we are looking at, whether it is a five-term year, whether it is lengthening the school day.

‘But also measures such as enhancing the support we give to teachers, supporting them in their professional development, making sure they can be the very best of themselves.’

He said this could be an opportunity for a ‘transformative’ shake-up that would be as significant as post World War Two education reform, which created local education authorities.

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Mr Williamson said: ‘For us, we see this as one of those moments like the 1944 Education Reform Act that came out of the Second World War, about how we can be transformative in terms of changing and improving the opportunities for young people.

‘But it’s got to be evidence-based. We’ve got to look as to what is going to have the biggest positive impact on children’s lives.’

He said Sir Kevan Collins, the Government’s education recovery commissioner, would be looking at what measures to introduce over the next 18 months.

But Head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, said although it was important children caught up ministers should be cautious about rushing through changes.

She told Sky: ‘I think one of the really important things is to learn from the experiments that have happened in the past.

Secondary school children will be offered twice weekly Covid tests (Picture: Reuters)

‘There’s no point adding time here, or moving time there, if you don’t get a groundswell of support.

‘If children simply don’t turn up for extra time, or summer schools for example, you could end up putting a lot of effort into something that doesn’t achieve the objective. So my concern is to go with the grain of what parents will embrace.’

She pointed out that previous experiments of five-term school years had been carried out but not many ‘persisted’.

‘I don’t know the reasons why, but I think it’s really important to learn, to make sure that people understand why they haven’t been a longstanding success in the past,’ she added.

Meanwhile, Mr Williamson denied that millions of children and staff face a chaotic return to the classroom tomorrow for the first time in months and that school guidance is ‘very clear’.

Children will return to the classroom tomorrow for the first time since January (Picture: Reuters)

Secondary school pupils will be required to wear face masks in classrooms when social distancing is not possible and will be offered twice weekly Covid tests.

Government guidance states both rules are ‘voluntary’ but the former is ‘highly recommended’.

When grilled over ‘unclear’ rules which state primary school teachers should also wear masks ‘where possible’, the education secretary today insisted schools have been given clear guidance.

He added that children are ‘excited’ about returning to face-to-face teaching.

Mr Williamson said: ‘What we’re doing is we set out very clear guidance as to how teachers will be best able to approach this.’

‘Wearing a face mask is just one small element of all the protections we’ve put in place,’ he added.

Although primary pupils do not have to wear masks, some schools have been telling children to wear them in the classroom – prompting parents and charities to urge the Government to ‘urgently’ clarify its position.

Mr Williamson admitted to BBC’s Andrew Marr that getting children back to the classroom is a ‘massive logistical exercise’ and ‘certainly not for the faint-hearted’.

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