Category: 'school'

The Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell MBE has called on Downing Street to put primary school libraries at the centre of the government’s response to the pandemic by ring-fencing £100m a year in spending to preserve under-threat facilities.

The school day could be made longer to help children catch up on missed learning, reports suggest. Government ministers are discussing the possibility of extending the school day so that children who have missed out on vital teaching during lockdown have more time in the classroom.

Ministers are contemplating a phased return of pupils which would see primary schools returning to the classroom first. The Department for Education is also considering partially reopening secondary schools so that children in Years 10 and 12, who have exams next year, return as soon as possible.

Schools will be allowed to shut a day early so staff have a “proper break” from identifying potential coronavirus cases ahead of Christmas.

Wales has cancelled all GCSE, AS level and A level exams in summer 2021 as a result of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the disruption it is causing to learning, education minister Kirsty Williams has announced.

Downing Street is under increasing pressure to re-open schools before May half term following a shattering forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility which indicates that the UK economy will shrink by 35% as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.