Category Archives: Schools

Global report: schools across Europe reopen as Covid cases grow

Posted on by

Parents and teachers fear face masks and other measures not enough to prevent second wave

Tens of millions of pupils, most wearing face masks, have headed back to class in France, Belgium, Poland and Russia, as schools across Europe cautiously reopened amid spiralling numbers of new coronavirus cases in several countries.

Parents and teachers around the continent have expressed fears that strict physical distancing and hygiene measures such as hand cleansing stations will not be able to prevent a second Covid-19 wave, maybe coinciding with the autumn flu season.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson faces Tory wrath as party slumps in shock poll

Posted on by

Party in despair, senior MP says, as Labour draws level in wake of exam chaos and Covid U-turns

Boris Johnson is facing a showdown with furious Conservative MPs over his government’s chaotic handling of Covid-19, as a new poll shows the Tories have surrendered a massive lead over Labour in just five months.

As MPs prepare to return to Westminster on Tuesday, Charles Walker, who is vice-chair of the 1922 committee of Conservative backbenchers, told the Observer that a recent string of U-turns had left many colleagues in despair, with some struggling to support and defend their government to constituents. Governing by U-turn in this way, he said, was unsustainable.

Continue reading...

‘I’m going round in circles’: parents in England still undecided about return to school

Posted on by

As government guidance continues to change over mask-wearing in schools, many are anxious about the risk to families

Eva Harratt, 13, would love to go to the park to meet her friends but it is forbidden because she lives in Oldham, the town in Greater Manchester facing restrictions due to a rise in Covid-19 cases. And yet, in five days, she is expected to return to her 1,370-pupil school and sit in classes of 30.

She likes school, misses her friends and wants to go back, but her mother is in the most vulnerable category because of an autoimmune disease. “Returning to school, I feel, is just not an option for me. They don’t appear to have given much thought to families with shielding members, or how that may affect them. Personally, I would prefer for things to go back to normal as soon as possible, but in the current situation, it is just not plausible for me,” says Eva.

Continue reading...

Reopening schools: how different countries are tackling Covid dilemma

Posted on by

As schools in England prepare to reopen, we examine the situation around the world

As schools in England and Wales get set to reopen amid continued controversy over safe conditions, attention has focused on potential evidence of coronavirus transmission in the classroom and on the experiences of other countries.

Research on the ability of children of different ages to catch and transmit the virus is contradictory, and differences in education systems and social conventions make comparisons difficult.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson drops advice against face mask use in English schools

Posted on by

Prime minister makes another coronavirus U-turn days before return to classrooms

Pupils in England will no longer be advised against using face masks in secondary schools after Boris Johnson made an 11th-hour U-turn days before classrooms reopen.

In lockdown areas such as Greater Manchester, which have greater restrictions to stop the spread of the virus, wearing face coverings will become mandatory in school corridors where social distancing is more difficult.

Continue reading...

UK coronavirus: top GCSE grades surge to record high in England – live news

Posted on by

Nearly 550,000 pupils in England receive GCSE results awarded entirely by assessment for first time, but BTec students face further disruption

My colleagues Pamela Duncan and Tobi Thomas from the Guardian’s data unit report discrepancies in today’s GCSE results:

A rising tide lifts all boats and this year’s algorithm-to-teacher-graded-U-turn has resulted in an increase in top grades across every subject. However, some subjects’ boats were lifted higher than others.

After all the uncertainty of the exams fiasco, head teachers across the country are celebrating their pupils’ GCSE success, but they say recent experiences have damaged relations with the Department for Education (DfE).

Jules White, head teacher of Tanbridge House secondary school in Horsham, West Sussex and leader of the Worth Less? education funding campaign, was with pupils this morning, watching with delight as they found out their grades.

Continue reading...

Gavin Williamson seeks to blame Ofqual for exams debacle

Posted on by

Education secretary forced into humiliating reversal on A-level and GCSE grades in England

Gavin Williamson has tried to lay the blame for the exams fiasco at the door of the regulator Ofqual after a humiliating climbdown that overturned up to 2.3m grades but left thousands of pupils in limbo.

Two days after saying there would be “no U-turn, no change”, the education secretary apologised and ordered a complete reversal whereby pupils in England will be able to revert to the A-level grades recommended by their teachers, if those are higher.

Continue reading...

UK coronavirus: Gavin Williamson apologises over ‘inconsistencies’ in exam grading process – live news

Posted on by

Exams regulator Ofqual announces all A-levels and GCSEs in England will now be graded according to teacher assessment following similar moves in Wales, NI and Scotland

One of the groups that had been planning to take the UK government to court over exam grades has said it is dropping its legal action, following the U-turn. Jo Maugham QC, the director of the Good Law Project, tweeted:

Statement on Government A Level U-turn pic.twitter.com/wEWYElgCil

Mary Curnock Cook, the former chief executive of Ucas, said the government must announce immediately that the cap on university admissions will be lifted to accommodate the new grading system.

Many universities will have already filled their courses based on the grades published last Thursday. Speaking on BBC News, she said:

Decisions have already been made by universities about who they accept, who they don’t accept, who goes into clearing and so on. This change will mean that universities have to rethink completely.

Continue reading...

Migrant children face hunger over free school meal restrictions

Posted on by

Children’s groups call for meal provision to extend to families barred from UK state support

Thousands of children from migrant families are at risk of hunger when schools reopen in the UK unless the free meal provision is extended, according to a group of 60 organisations.

The Children’s Society, Action for Children, Project 17 and Unison are among the organisations that have written to the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, calling on him to extend free school meals to pupils from low-income migrant families classed as having “no recourse to public funds”.

Continue reading...

Sturgeon promises urgent review of 124,000 downgraded exam results

Posted on by

First minister apologises after predicted awards downgraded more heavily in poorer areas

Nicola Sturgeon has apologised to tens of thousands of Scottish teenagers whose exam results were downgraded last week and promised urgent changes to their awards.

The first minister attempted to defuse a growing crisis for her government by confirming that her deputy, John Swinney, would lay out proposals to regrade results in the Scottish parliament on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

What we are learning about Covid-19 and kids

Posted on by

As schools around the world prepare to reopen, new scientific evidence about children and coronavirus is coming to light

Back in April, the French epidemiologist Arnaud Fontanet found himself leading an investigation in the town of Crépy-en-Valois, a small community of 15,000 inhabitants just to the north-east of Paris. In February, the town’s middle and high schools had become the centre of a new outbreak of Covid-19.

Fontanet and colleagues from the Pasteur Institute in Paris were tasked with conducting antibody testing across Crépy-en-Valois to understand the extent to which the virus had been circulating. As they surveyed the town, they noted an interesting pattern. While the virus had spread rampantly through the high school, with 38% of students being infected, along with 43% of teachers and 59% of non-teaching staff, the same was not true for the town’s six primary schools. While three primary-age pupils had caught Covid-19 in early February, none of these infections had led to a secondary case. Overall, just 9% of primary age pupils, 7% of teachers and 4% of non-teaching staff had been infected with the virus.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson ‘would close pubs before schools’ in local Covid-19 lockdown

Posted on by

Prime minister says it is a ‘national priority’ and ‘moral duty’ to get all pupils back into classrooms

Boris Johnson has spoken of “a moral duty” to get all children back in class amid indications he would force pubs, restaurants and shops to close ahead of schools in the event of severe coronavirus flare-ups.

The prime minister is understood to favour only closing schools as the last resort after scientific advisers warned more restrictions may be needed to reopen classrooms in England next month.

Continue reading...

Fall in Welsh-capable teachers risks missing language target, report warns

Posted on by

Language decline among newly qualified teachers could undermine goal of reaching 1 million Welsh speakers

A “striking” decline in the number of newly qualified teachers able to teach in Welsh could undermine the country’s ambition to have a million speakers of the language in 30 years’ time, a report warns.

The Welsh language commissioner, Aled Roberts, expressed concern about the trend and called for the devolved government to take urgent action to reverse the fall.

Continue reading...

‘I was shielded from my history’: the changes young black Britons are calling for

Posted on by

Exclusive: from schools to policing, 50 people share their experiences of growing up in the UK

Following the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK and across the world, the Guardian interviewed 50 young black Britons, many of whom have been at the heart of the recent anti-racism protests, to ask what changes they would like to see in their lifetime.

Three demands came up repeatedly: decolonising the curriculum; divesting funds away from police forces in favour of a public health-focused approach to crime; and better representation of black Britons across a wider section of society.

Continue reading...

California announces strict rules that will keep most schools closed

Posted on by

Governor Gavin Newsom said public schools will not be allowed to hold in-person classes if their county is on a monitoring list

California’s governor has announced strict rules for school reopening that would prevent the vast majority of students from returning to classrooms in the fall as coronavirus cases hit their highest levels yet in the state.

Governor Gavin Newsom announced the new guidance on Friday, which mandates that public schools in California counties that are on a monitoring list for rising coronavirus infections cannot hold in-person classes, and will have to meet rigorous criteria for reopening.

Continue reading...

One school, 25 bereavements: Essex head fears emotional impact of Covid-19

Posted on by

Vic Goddard is one of many school leaders daunted by the burden of supporting pupils and staff through their grief

Vic Goddard is trying not to cry. The headteacher of Passmores academy in Harlow and star of the 2011 TV series Educating Essex is thinking about the 23 pupils and two staff at his school who have been bereaved during the coronavirus pandemic.

His greatest fear, a fear that keeps him awake at night and is making his voice tremble, is what could happen to them if he does not manage to support them adequately when they return to school. “I’m going to get upset, I’m really sorry…” he stops. “You feel dreadfully … dreadfully … There is an element of responsibility.”

Continue reading...

UK coronavirus live: Scotland to relax 2m rule but lockdown-easing paused in some towns after outbreaks

Posted on by

Scotland’s distancing rule to be relaxed for some sectors; lockdown-easing paused in some Scottish towns; getting English schools back to normal critical, Williamson says

A “partial reopening” of the tourism sector in Wales is to take place over the next few weeks as long as rates of coronavirus continue to fall, the Welsh government has announced.

The Labour-led government has asked visitors to enjoy their time in the country – but to respect local communities.

Tourism is a vital part of the Welsh economy at a national, regional and local level. I’d like to thank all our industry partners for working with us to carefully reopen the visitor economy.

A successful, safe and phased return will give businesses, communities and visitors confidence to continue with the recovery of the visitor economy.

NHS England has recorded a further 35 coronavirus hospital deaths in England. The full figures are here.

For comparison, here are the equivalent daily figures announced by NHS England over the past fortnight.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus: what changes mean for people shielding in England

Posted on by

From 6 July, people with underlying health issues will no longer have to avoid all contact with others

With the government relaxing lockdown for those shielding from Covid-19 in England, we explore what this means for the most vulnerable in society.

Continue reading...

Gavin Williamson: all children in England to return to school in September – video

Posted on by

The education secretary has pledged that all children in all year groups in England will return to school in September. He said he understood parents' anxiety about the move, but that safety measures including protective bubbles would be in place to limit the risk of transmitting Covid-19

Continue reading...

Johnson makes U-turn on free school meals after Rashford campaign

Posted on by

‘Covid summer food fund’ announced after pressure from footballer and campaigners

Boris Johnson has been forced into a humbling U-turn over providing food vouchers for some of England’s poorest families after a campaign launched by the footballer Marcus Rashford threatened to engulf his government in another crisis.

In an embarrassing about-face, the prime minister said that on Tuesday he had called the England and Manchester United striker to explain the reversal, and made the remarkable claim that he had only become aware of Rashford’s interest in the issue earlier in the day.

Continue reading...