Schools should be exceeding maximum class sizes to enable Ukrainian children to attend schools “as soon as possible”, the education secretary has said in a letter to councils today (1 April).
Writing to all local authority chief executives and directors of children’s services, education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said that attending school was “vital” to help newly arrived children “integrate” as quickly as possible.
In the letter, he said the government’s expectation was that, if there were school places available in the local area, local authorities would work with families arriving from Ukraine to enable the children to attend school as soon as possible.
He said this would apply even if the school places that were available were “not in the immediate vicinity of the family’s home”.
Mr Zahawi added: “As I have said previously, local authorities should be looking to provide places and, where necessary, use the flexibilities to admit above published admission number (PAN) and exceed the infant class size limit, as well as using the in-year Fair Access Protocol.”
In his letter to local authorities, he explained that the government had set up two schemes to help those fleeing the war in Russia - the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine.
He added: “All children and young people arriving under these schemes have the right to access education and childcare whilst in the UK.
“I know from my own experience as an 11-year-old that the best place for all children to be educated is in schools and that attending school is vital to help newly arrived children integrate as quickly as possible into the communities in which they are living.”
Mr Zahawi said he has set up a team dedicated to helping Ukrainian students settle into the UK and that any queries should be directed to them.
The news comes after the education secretary revealed last month that Oak National Academy would roll out translated versions of its lessons in Ukrainian and Russian for refugee pupils newly arrived in the UK.
Speaking at the Association of School and College Leaders’ conference in Birmingham last month, Mr Zahawi said that the online school’s 10,000 lessons will be made available to Ukrainian children in their own languages to help support families arriving in the UK seeking refuge from the Russian invasion.
He has also previously said the Department for Education is looking at the possibility of fast-tracking the registration of Ukrainian teachers to work in this country.
