Gavin Williamson: All pupils will be back in school in September
Education secretary Gavin Williamson today confirmed that all UK schoolchildren would return to the classroom in September.
Speaking at today’s Downing Street press conference, Williamson said schools were vital to the UK’s plans to “rebuild and recover” after the coronavirus.
He said: “We want to bring every child back, in every year group, in every school.
“School is vital for everyone of our children. That is why we will bring every one of our children in all year groups back to school in September.
“While many children have already returned to school, I do understand there is an anxiety among parents. I want to assure you that the wellbeing of your children is absolute top priority for every single one of us”.
Pupils in reception and years one and six have already returned to school on 1 June.
Williamson was speaking after the government overnight unveiled a £1bn “catch-up” plan to ensure no pupil is left with education gaps due to the virus.
The funding is split into £650m for primary and secondary state schools, as well as a £350m national tutoring programme.
Before the Open newsletter: Start your day with the City View podcast and key market data
Schools will be allowed to tailor the funding to suit the individual needs of their pupils.
When pressed upon the practicalities of how schools would be able to bring back all pupils with current social distancing rules still in place, he said that the government would give further guidance in the next two weeks.
“This is why we’ve said clearly we’re going to be publishing the further guidance within the next two weeks so that schools have the maximum amount of time to prepare for the next phase of welcoming children back”, he added.
However, he said he could not give an exact date for when the government would have carried out its review of the current two metre social distancing guidance.
One of the plans that the government is considering is increasing the size of so-called classroom bubbles to allow more pupils to return.
“Currently that is at 15, what we would be looking at doing is expanding those bubbles to include the whole class”, he said.