Plans for all primary school children to return to school before summer dropped by Government

The Government's announcement that primary schools will no longer be expected to welcome back all children before the summer holidays has been welcomed by Leeds City Council.
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Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said he would "work with the sector" as he confirmed the Government's ambition to return all primary schoolchildren to the classroom for four weeks before the end of the summer term had been dropped.

Mr Williamson said the Government would like to see schools who "have the capacity" bring back more pupils where possible before the summer break.

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It comes after school leaders, teachers and governors, including many in Leeds, urged ministers to reconsider plans for a full return to primary school - as they said it would be impossible amid capacity issues, staff shortages and social distancing.

All primary school aged children will not be expected back before summer.All primary school aged children will not be expected back before summer.
All primary school aged children will not be expected back before summer.

Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Leeds' Executive Member for Learning, Skills and Employment, said: “It is right that the Government has listened to the concerns that we and school leaders across the city have raised regarding the Government proposal that all primary school children should return to school before the end of this academic year.

“We have been supporting schools across the city to carry out detailed risk assessments and make informed decisions about a phased return of reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils, based on the schools’ individual circumstances, whilst ensuring that social distancing measures are in place.

"Many schools in Leeds are already at full capacity despite having relatively low numbers of pupils in school, so the expectation to increase further would have been extremely challenging.

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“Whilst we are keen for children to be able to resume their learning with their classmates, it is imperative that increased numbers of children and staff only return to school when it is safe for them to do so and based on their risk assessments.”

Mr Williamson told MPs that the Government was still working towards bringing all children back to school by September.

Children in nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 in England began returning to primary school last week after the Government eased lockdown measures.

But some schools said they did not have enough space on site to admit all pupils in the eligible year groups, while adhering to Government guidance to limit class sizes to 15 and encourage fewer interactions.

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Figures released by the Department for Education (DfE) on Tuesday showed that just over half (52%) of primary schools in England had reopened to more children on Thursday last week.

But addressing MPs, Mr Williamson said the number of schools that have begun reopening their doors to more pupils has risen in recent days.

He said: "By the end of the week, more than half of primary schools were taking pupils from these year groups, and as of yesterday that had risen to over 70% of primaries that had responded."

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said there would have been "significant practical barriers" to bringing all primary pupils back in the summer term if the goal had gone ahead.

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He said: "School leaders are already working through the practical considerations of engaging all pupils and families as best they can, as the academic year draws to a close. This will require flexibility in order to balance the needs of all pupils with the continued constraints placed upon schools.

"With the end of term just six weeks away, Government now needs to provide urgent clarity on the anticipated constraints that schools may face in September, so that schools and parents can start to look ahead and plan with greater understanding of the possible disruption that may yet still follow."