With the initial revelation that “billions” would be pledged to help students catch up on their lost learning, there were - rightly - some raised eyebrows. 

Both Boris Johnson and Sir Kevan Collins, the education recovery commissioner, had said that one of the country’s key priorities would be to address the lost-learning gap, so there was some hope that tangible plans might be put forth that would benefit both students and schools. 

Sir Kevan highlighted the need to increase learning time for children as soon as he was appointed to his role in February. Since taking up the post, he has said that extending the school day should be compulsory. It’s a valiant idea, but it just lacks two things: firstly, the billions required to fund it, and, secondly, teachers who aren’t completely exhausted from working flat-out through the pandemic. 

Covid catch-up: An extended school day?

The sad truth is that, once more, the education of those most affected by the pandemic is going to be sold short. In reality, the pledged £1.5 billion will be used to extend the National Tutoring Programme. 

One report suggested that this would fund a mere 15 hours extra per eligible pupil. How much “catching up” are we expecting from these 15 additional hours? 

If the typical high school student studies 10 subjects, that’s an hour and a half per subject: not quite the saviour plan that we were first sold. And have we seen any tangible impact from the catch-up learning so far?

In school, we have done everything we can to ensure that learners get the best education, regardless of the circumstances. No, we haven’t got it perfect, but we’ve tried. 

We have learned along the way, and this supplementary plan that was touted to be the saving grace for those who couldn’t access the learning has highlighted how massively underfunded and undervalued education is at present. 

A lack of support for schools

On the ground, what is most frustrating are the consistent failures to pull through on promises. It is difficult being told of grandiose plans that, more often than not, translate into a token gesture to tick a box. 

Feeling like you have the support from above to ensure that the learners are going to get what they need makes things more palatable for teachers. It shows that the government values the work that has been done during the pandemic. 

So this most recent revelation about the chronic underfunding of any catch-up learning leaves, once again, a bitter taste in the mouth. 

Is it just about the money, though? Money only gets you so far. It’s about how you spend it - and if the spending of the money is impactful. 

Is the concept of extending the school day really feasible? Realistically, are schools going to be able to handle the burden and the extra workload? Retention of teachers is currently a real issue, and whimsically extending the school day and thinking a bit of extra cash will cover the impact is shortsighted. 

If the government truly wanted to tackle lost learning, and really understood the ways in which schools work, it would see that there needs to be serious attention paid to helping students (and staff) recover from the effect of the pandemic. 

There needs to be a plan, and it needs to be stuck to - as difficult as that has been throughout the pandemic, it’s about time some sound decisions were made that truly put the children first. 

Adam Riches is an assistant principal and senior leader for teaching and learning, specialist leader in education and head of English. He tweets @TeachMrRiches