Catch-up tsar Sir Kevan Collins has said he wants to focus on “doing a few things well” rather than having a “scattergun of gimmicks” as he leads the education recovery effort.

He told headteachers at the Association of School and College Leaders’ conference today that his work as the education recovery commissioner will be focused on teaching, tutoring, targeted work and making the best use of time.

He said that the recovery has to be broad and fair, and acknowledge that some children have suffered more than others.

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Sir Kevan told the ASCL conference that the Covid situation “has shown us that when we do a few things well we can achieve much more than if we have a scattergun of lots and lots of gimmicks. 

“And I am not interested in having a wide range of things, I am interested in doing a few things well.”  

He told leaders that the pandemic has been “the biggest disruption to education in a generation if not in the history of mass English education.”