I would like to suggest the provision of nationwide summer schools. This would take the form of schools being open for 2-3 days per week for the 5-6 weeks of the proposed summer holidays, focusing on core skills in English and Maths. This would achieve the following aims:
1) Re-introducing children to the school environment in a gradual/paced way.
2) Providing an opportunity for children to be taught by teachers and catch up in terms of their educational attainment ready for the new school year.
3) Giving an opportunity for children to meet with their peers and overcome social anxiety which may have developed.
4) Providing access to free school meals to eligible children, avoiding the ongoing debate the government are having in the public domain around food poverty during the school holidays.
5) Support for parents with childcare, many of whom may be returning to work from furlough just as schools break for summer.
6) Attenuating the impact of any future disruptions to education which may happen if COVID-19 infection rates require future lockdowns in Winter 2021.
7) Provide work placements for trainee teachers. Schools will need significant additional support to offer summer schools.
There will be a number of challenges including but not limited to:
– Identifying the children who would like to attend summer schools.
– Ensuring the schools can adhere to any infection control measures required at the time.
– Staffing.
– Regular testing and tracing of staff and pupils in school.
Teaching staff have been under a substantial pressure and strain throughout the pandemic. I would recommend that staff are offered time off prior to the re-opening of schools to compensate for lost leave during the school holidays. An additional week’s leave could also be added to planned school holidays of year 2021/22. Subject to the appropriate training and certifications being in place, there is also the opportunity to call on the workforce of tutors and tutoring services across the country who may be willing to support the staffing of summer schools. All staff should be paid in line with their usual salary and there could also be an opportunity to offer a Summer School Staff bonus scheme. Depending on demand, there may be areas where it is not necessary for every school to open but staff from across different schools could collaborate to offer the summer school at one site.
Controlling covid-19 infection rates within summer schools will be essential for the success of the programme. Consultations with teachers and teacher unions should be conducted to plan for keeping schools safe. Vaccination of teaching staff is not the only solution to this as we haven’t get got evidence of the impact of vaccination on transmission. Summer schools would therefore still need to consider classroom bubbles, social distancing and mask wearing. Outdoor lessons and ventilation should be easier to achieve during summer but further ideas could be: keeping staff rooms closed to avoid staff mixing, children remaining in the same classroom throughout the day, staggered break times, teachers and children remaining in the same classroom for lunch, delivery for school meals to the classroom or picking up from the canteen (not sitting in canteen mixing with other class bubbles).
For a proportion of children, even additional schooling in summer will not be enough to give them the knowledge and confidence to progress into the next school year. Where at all possible, schools should be supported to be able to offer pupils the opportunity to re-sit the school year. Temporary classrooms and rapid teacher training courses could be considered to provide the resources needed to allow children to re-sit the year.
Overall, I feel Summer schools would greatly benefit children who have had their education substantially disrupted for what will be a full year. It will allow them to catch up in their education, return in a phased way to the school environment, rekindle friendships and access pastoral care.
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