Education secretary Gavin Williamson has ruled out the prospect of schools opening over the summer holidays following increasing speculation this might need to happen to help some pupils catch up.
Quizzed by MPs at the Commons Education Select Committee meeting this morning (held online), Mr Williamson said there was still no date for when schools would reopen but that they would be given “proper notice” and that he expected them to be opened in a “phased manner”.
He said: “We are not planning to run schools through the summer…We are looking at a whole set of interventions to help children both catch up in terms of their work across the whole broad setting of children of all backgrounds but we’re also looking at different interventions we can make in order to be able to help children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.”
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Mr Williamson added: “We are working very closely with the whole sector in terms of actually when is going to be the best time to bring schools fully back into operation. We have set out five clear tests as to what is incredibly important and what will inform the schools, we want to make sure schools are given proper notice but we do not have a date as to when schools are going to be opening.”
He added: I do expect schools to be opened in a phased manner, I also intend to be giving schools as much notice as possible.”
Earlier this month children’s commissioner Anne Longfield caused controversy among teachers and parents alike when she said schools should consider opening “in some form” over the six-week summer holiday to help children catch up with the curriculum.
The NEU teaching union said it had “major practical and contractual concerns” about opening schools over summer while Margaret Morrissey, founder of the pressure group Parents Outloud, said children needed “real holidays” and that cancelling the summer holidays would cause “more confusion and disruption”.
