Education

The mayor said this was “simply not good enough” as he called for the government to ensure all students out of school have access to a device.Schools moved online in early January to all pupils except vulnerable and key worker children due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Speaking about uncertainty over when all children will be allowed back to school, the Greater Manchester mayor said: “If we can’t give schools a start date, they have to put in place the equipment to get kids online.”“It is just not good enough to do this half-hearted job they have done so far.”Mr Burnham said: “I understand why you can’t set a date, but for goodness sake, you have to put in place an arrangement that allows every child to learn.”We estimate that in Greater Manchester there are around 20,000 young people who are out of school and do not have online access and that simply isn’t good enough.”The government laptop scheme – which has faced criticism over delays and device quality – is providing devices for disadvantaged children in certain year groups who do not have access to a device at home and whose face-to-face education has been disrupted. The government has committed to giving 1.3 million laptops and tablets to schools to support pupils in need, with around 800,000 of these delivered by mid-January.After the total figure pledged rose by 300,000 earlier this month, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said it was “pretty poor that nearly a year after this crisis began we are only now inching up to the number of devices that are needed”.According to estimates from Ofcom, between 1.14 million and 1.78 million children in the UK (9%) do not have home access to a laptop, desktop or tablet, and that more than 880,000 children live in a household with only a mobile internet connection.In the wake of lockdown and the majority of pupils moving to remote learning, tech companies have been urged to do more to support disadvantaged families who lack access to a reliable internet connection and network operators moved to offer free mobile data to those who need it.A government spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to reopening schools as soon as the public health picture allows, and right through the pandemic have taken every step to ensure schools stayed open as long as they could.“We will set out plans for schools, parents and pupils as soon as possible, providing as much notice as we can.” More

Speaking in parliament, Labour’s Wes Streeting slammed the government for “having to be dragged to do the right thing” over free school meals in the past and last year’s exam results controversy – which initially saw tens of thousands of grades initially downgraded by an algorithm before a government U-turn.Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, earlier said his record during the coronavirus pandemic had been “shambolic”, as her party said there had been a “litany of government mistakes” over children and education.“We cannot praise staff in schools and school leaders in one breath and then in the other defend the leadership they have been subjected to under this secretary of state for education,” Mr Streeting told parliament on Monday evening.“If the prime minister had any judgment, he would have sacked the secretary of state, and if the secretary of state had any shame, he would have resigned.”Labour reiterated the call for Mr Williamson to go in a statement on Tuesday, saying there had been a “series of failures” – including over free school meals and laptop provision.“Despite being shamed into providing free school meals over the summer and Christmas holidays the government is again refusing to provide support for children now over February half-term,” the party said. It also accused the government of “failure to keep children learning either in school or from home” with pupils still lacking devices. The DfE and Downing Street has been approached for comment.Labour’s Ms Green called for Gavin Williamson to resign for the first time last week, after images of food parcels handed out to families were heavily criticised. Mr Williamson said he was “absolutely disgusted” after seeing a picture of a meagre food parcel delivered to a disabled mother-of-two.The education secretary also said companies will be “named and shamed” if they fail to deliver against food standards, and has urged schools to cancel contracts where necessary. The party used an opposition day debate in the Commons on Monday afternoon to say that eligible families should be guaranteed to receive the full value of free school meals throughout the year, including during the holidays.Downing Street accused Labour of pulling a “political stunt” over planned debates on Universal Credit and free school meals.“MPs are being told to abstain because today is not the day when we will be announcing our next steps on the £20 Universal Credit uplift,” the prime minister’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, said.She added: “This is an Opposition day debate. It is them making families up and down the country concerned they will not be able to get the food they might need during the February half-term, when that is not true.”Labour is pulling a political stunt because they know that children who could go hungry during the February half-term will not go hungry because of the policy that is in place.” More

Pupils will receive a set daily number of hours of remote education during England’s new lockdown, the government has confirmed – adding that Ofsted will be able to inspect schools where it has concerns about the quality of education.As the country was plunged into its third national lockdown, schools moved online until at least mid-February for all students except vulnerable children and the children of key workers.On Wednesday, the Department for Education (DfE) said strengthened expectations for remote education would be put in place.Officials said schools will be expected to deliver a set number of hours for remote education for pupils, which will be an increase from what schools have been expected to deliver for students unable to go to class.Gavin Williamson told parliament on Wednesday that Ofsted would enforce legal requirements for state schools in England to provide high-quality remote education during the lockdown.The education secretary sparked anger from unions after saying parents can report schools to Ofsted if they are unhappy with their child’s remote learning provision during closures.“The last thing teachers and heads need right now is the spectre of Ofsted, which has been of neither use nor ornament throughout the pandemic,” Dr Mary Bousted from the National Education Union said. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said schools have spent the last 48 hours “working tirelessly” to put plans in place following the sudden announcement of closures.“It is therefore nothing short of disgraceful that the government should choose today to start threatening schools about the quality of their remote learning offer,” he said.The government said on Wednesday Ofsted will “play an important role in holding schools to account” for the quality of the remote education they provide during lockdown.  Ofsted can inspect schools where it has significant concerns about the quality of education being provided – including remote education – and parents can report concerns to the watchdog having first gone to the school, the DfE said. Ofsted will also carry out spring-term inspections of schools most in need of challenge and support – which will have a strong focus on remote education.“While schools and colleges are closed to most pupils, education remains a national priority”an Ofsted spokesman said. “There are clear requirements about remote learning and our monitoring inspections this term will focus on how well these are being met, to provide reassurance to parents”.Mr Williamson said on Wednesday closing schools was the “last thing” any education secretary wanted. “But the closing of schools for the majority of pupils does not mean the end of their education, and the outlook for schools, parents and young people is far more positive than the one we faced last year,” he said.“Schools and colleges are much better prepared to deliver online learning – with the delivery of hundreds of thousands of devices at breakneck speed, data support and high quality video lessons available.”Additional reporting by Press Association More

It comes after Michael Gove suggested end-of-year exams would be scrapped in favour of alternative styles of assessment following the new lockdown.On Monday evening, the Department for Education (DfE) said: “There is recognition that this is an anxious time for students who have been working hard towards their exams.”“The government position is that we will not be asking students to sit GCSE and A-levels.” The DfE said they will work with Ofqual, England’s exam regulator, to consult on how to award grades to pupils this year. Exams were cancelled last year over coronavirus and a new grading system set up, awarding students with calculated grades. Pupils were allowed to take their original teacher predicted marks, following backlash over the system.On Monday, Mr Gove was asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether A-levels and GCSEs in England were cancelled for the second year in a row, and replied: “Yes.”The former education secretary said: “We will be putting in place alternative arrangements in order to make sure that the hard work that students have put in to acquire knowledge and develop their skills is appropriately assessed, recognised and awarded.”He also told Sky News that Gavin Williamson, the current education secretary, will address parliament on Wednesday to update MPs on how pupils will be assessed at the end of the year, following further disruption to their learning.Under England’s new lockdown, schools will move to online-learning only until at least the middle of February, for all students except vulnerable children and those of key workers. While schools remained open last term, more than half a million state school pupils were off school during the final weeks of term for coronavirus-related reasons, Department for Education (DfE) estimates show.The government faced backlash over how grading was done last year amid cancelled exams, when teachers submitted grades they estimated students would have achieved in exams for standardisation.Additional reporting by Press Association More

Boris Johnson has sparked dissent in Tory ranks by issuing a demand for all schools to remain open until the official start of the Christmas break on Thursday.The order came as councils in London switched to remote learning as coronavirus cases soared in the capital, with Islington advising schools to shut and Greenwich saying headteachers should move to online classes from Monday evening. Tory MP for Wimbledon Stephen Hammond rejected the No 10 ruling, saying schools in his south London constituency should have closed last Friday and should consider two weeks of online learning after Christmas.Mr Hammond was among a group of London MP briefed by ministers and officials this morning on the situation in the capital, which he described as “stark”.“Frankly, the government should not be stopping schools closing,” Mr Hammond told BBC Radio 4’s World at One. “I have been of the view for at least a week now, looking at my local area, that schools should have been closed last Friday. With only three days left till the end of the term we should make that decision today.“It’s not just what’s happening in schools but it’s the congregation of  parents of primary schools and congregation of pupils outside afterwards. I also think that we should think very carefully about how quickly they should open after Christmas and potentially two weeks of online learning.”However, Downing Street said on Monday all schools are expected to stay open until the end of term.“We’ve consistently said that not being in school has a detrimental impact on children’s learning as well as their own personal development and mental health,” Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said. “Which is why we expect all schools and colleges to remain open until the end of term on Thursday, as schools have remained open throughout the pandemic.”Asked whether action will be taken against councils that close early, the UK prime minister’s spokesman said: “Our regional school commissioner teams are working closely with schools and local authorities across the country and will continue to work with them and support them to remain open.”The move to online teaching in some local areas comes amid concerns staff and children in school during the final week could be told to self-isolate over Christmas. Mass coronavirus testing is going ahead for secondary school students in areas of London, Essex and Kent amid rising coronavirus rates in the run-up to the holidays.On Sunday, Greenwich Council told all schools in its area in southeast London to close from Monday and switch to online learning following signs of “exponential growth” in Covid-19 cases. Islington Council is advising schools in the north London borough to shut early ahead of Christmas – except for children of key workers and vulnerable pupils – and not to reopen until later in January.“This is a very difficult decision – however the public health situation in Islington and London is so serious that we have to do everything we can to stop this deadly virus spreading in our community and across London,” Islington Council leader Richard Watts said.Meanwhile, nearly all the secondary schools in Basildon have moved to full remote education, Essex County Council said on Monday.Schools have been warned they could face legal action if they allow pupils to learn remotely in the run-up to Christmas.New powers introduced through the Coronavirus Act allow the government to issue “directions” to heads around education provision during the pandemic.  If they refuse to comply with directions to stay open, the UK education secretary could apply for a High Court injunction forcing them to do so.Additional reporting by Press Association More