Schools across England will not remain open during the summer holidays for the children of key workers, Downing Street confirmed today.
Those pupils have been able to attend classes throughout the coronavirus crisis so that parents in critical jobs could continue to go to work.
They had been able to attend school during the Easter break but Number 10 said this afternoon that schools will be shut to all pupils over the summer.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson recently told MPs that schools would close over the summer holiday months and the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said that will also apply to key workers’ children too.
‘There would have been a reasonable expectation that parents would expect for schools not to be open over the course of the summer,’ the spokesman said.
The move is likely to cause a headache for many key workers who will now need to try to put in place childcare arrangements at a time when social distancing rules mean grandparents cannot be called on.
It came as the head of Ofsted told teachers they need to adopt a more ‘can do’ and ‘optimistic approach’ to reopening schools.
Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools, piled the pressure on teachers to do more to get children back into the classroom as soon as possible.
Head teachers have said that without changes to the current two metre social distancing rule it will be ‘impossible’ for all children to return in September.
But Ms Spielman said it ‘should be about what we can do, not about what we can’t do’ in comments likely to provoke teacher fury.
The Government U-turned earlier this week on its ‘ambition’ to get all primary school pupils back before the summer holidays as ministers admitted social distancing and smaller class sizes made a wholesale return unfeasible.
It came as Sir Keir Starmer today urged Boris Johnson to turn the nation’s empty theatres, museums, libraries and leisure centres into classrooms to get children back to school as soon as possible.
Reports suggest Mr Johnson is planning to scrap the existing two metre rule by September so that schools can fully reopen for the start of the next academic year.
Downing Street today confirmed all schools across England will not remain open for children of key workers during the summer break
Ofsted chief inspector of schools Amanda Spielman said teachers needed to adopt a more ‘optimistic approach’ to getting children back into classrooms
The two metre social distancing rule has made it impossible for schools to bring back all of their pupils. Pictured is a primary in Huddersfield
The phased reopening of primary schools in England started on June 1 while secondary schools are due to allow some year 10 and year 12 pupils to meet with their teachers from June 15.
The Government had wanted all primary school pupils to return for a month before the summer holidays.
But Mr Williamson admitted on Tuesday that many schools are ‘not able to welcome all primary children back for a full month before the summer’.
The Education Secretary said ministers will now be ‘working to bring all children back to school in September’.
Ms Spielman said she wanted teachers to be more ‘optimistic’ about reopening after she was told during an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that some head teachers believe the September target will be ‘impossible’ to hit.
She said: ‘I’d like to hear a much more optimistic approach. I think it should be about what we can do, not about what we can’t do.
‘Many schools are already showing that within the public health guidance that sets the expectations for these bubbles of 15 children there is a great deal that can be done.
‘It is also important to remember that within the bubbles social distancing is an aspiration not an absolute expectation.
‘Of course there are many, many pieces of planning that come into getting schools open, it is not just about the physical arrangements of classrooms themselves.
‘It is about having teachers, it is about having transport. There are a lot of logistical things that need to be thought through.
‘But fundamentally we need to approach in the spirit of what is the most education that we can provide within the constraints and which of the constraints relaxation will make the most difference at the point that they can be relaxed to help us understand the best priorities for getting the most children back into school.’
Asked if she believed teachers and councils were being too ‘risk averse’, she replied: ‘Certainly the medical evidence that Public Health England and the Government’s advisers have presented to the education sector does suggest that the risk to children themselves is very low indeed and that those in education should take some confidence in that.’
Writing in The Telegraph, Sir Keir accused the Government of having a ‘blind spot’ on education which is harming the long term life chances of the current generation of school children.
He said there had been ‘no plan, no consensus, no leadership’ on reopening schools as he warned children must not be allowed to go six months without proper classroom learning.
Sir Keir called for the Government to do three things: Repurpose empty buildings to act as classrooms, develop a national plan with teachers to ensure a full September return and make efforts now to reverse gaps in attainment caused by the outbreak.
‘There is no doubt that the way children are educated needs to change in light of the pandemic,’ he said.
‘Schools cannot reopen as normal. Adaptations need to be made so that teachers, children and parents can be kept safe.
Sir Keir Starmer, pictured in London yesterday, has urged ministers to repurpose empty museums and libraries as classrooms to help children return to school
‘Introducing these changes must be a national effort using the creativity of the British people. Towns, villages and cities are full of empty buildings and spaces that can be repurposed.
‘Theatres, museums, libraries and leisure centres could be used and opened up for children.’
Sir Keir claimed the Government had been ‘too slow’ to act at every stage of the crisis and that a ‘ridiculous situation’ had now arisen where theme parks will soon reopen but parents do not know when their children will be able to go back to school.
There is now a cross-party push for empty public buildings to be used as classrooms with Robert Halfon, the Tory chairman of the Education Select Committee, having already demanded a similar move.
Mr Halfon called for Mr Johnson to set up a ‘national education army’ to teach children and help them catch up on their education in the coming months.
He wants retired teachers, graduates and Ofsted inspectors to work with schools to ‘open school buildings and other buildings and look after these left-behind pupils to make sure they are learning’.