Category Archives: Schools

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...

‘Many girls have been cut’: how global school closures left children at risk

Posted on by

Covid-19 lockdown made children vulnerable to abuses including FGM and child marriage say NGOs, as schools in England prepare to reopen

Covid-19 school closures have exposed children around the world to human rights abuses such as forced genital mutilation, early marriage and sexual violence, child protection experts say.

Globally, the World Bank estimates that 1.6 billion children were locked out of education by Covid-19. As schools in England and around the world prepare to reopen this week, NGOs warn that millions of the world’s most vulnerable children may never return to the classroom, and say that after decades fighting for girls’ education the pandemic could cause gender equality in education to be set back decades.

Continue reading...

Gove ‘confident’ pupils and teachers will be safe at school – video

Posted on by

The Cabinet Office minister has said he is confident children and teachers will be safe if they return to the classroom, but admitted the risk remained of contracting Covid-19. Appearing on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show, Michael Gove said: ‘The only way ever to ensure that you never catch coronavirus is to stay at home completely. There’s always, always, always in any loosening of these restrictions a risk of people catching the coronavirus’

Continue reading...

Half of Oakland students lack access to computers. Jack Dorsey is stepping in

Posted on by

Twitter CEO’s $10m pledge will immediately help ‘put a device in the hand of every single kid’ in Oakland’s public schools

Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and Square, has announced that he will donate $10m toward computers and internet access for public schools in Oakland, a city where half of students lack reliable access to either.

Dorsey dropped the news after the Oakland mayor, Libby Schaaf, tweeted a video of one those 25,000 students without access to the technology. “Every student deserves the ability to learn from home,” wrote Schaaf.

Continue reading...

‘I feel I’ve come home’: can forest schools help heal refugee children?

Posted on by

They have a middle-class reputation, but one outdoor school near Nottingham is reconnecting disadvantaged 10-year-olds with nature and a sense of freedom

When Kate Milman was 21, she paused her English degree at the University of East Anglia to join protests against the Newbury bypass. It was 1996, and the road was being carved out through idyllic wooded countryside in Berkshire. She took up residence in a treehouse, in the path of the bulldozers, and lived there for months. It was a revelation. She lived intimately with the catkins, the calling birds, the slow-slow-fast change in the seasons. Despite being in a precarious position as a protester, she felt completely safe and her brain was calmed.

“You know when you go camping and go back to your house, and everything feels wrong? The lighting is harsh and everything seems complicated indoors. It just got under my skin, this feeling – that [living in the woods] is like being at home.”

Continue reading...

Dan Tehan tried to pressure Victoria to reopen schools, but he went from raging bull to mewling kitten | Katharine Murphy

Posted on by

While the federal education minister banked on parents’ frustration with home schooling, those same parents are also worried

It’s been a wild old Sunday, with the federal education minister Dan Tehan going from raging bull to mewling kitten in the space of four hours, so let’s work through things step by step.

Scott Morrison has been intensely frustrated with school closures for weeks. The prime minister wants schools to reopen as the bedrock of getting the economy moving again, and the bulk of the medical advice before the government suggests that schools are low risk.

Continue reading...

European schools get ready to reopen despite concern about pupils spreading Covid-19

Posted on by

Germany’s top coronavirus expert says children play as big a role as adults in spread

More countries across Europe are preparing to reopen schools in the coming weeks despite conflicting advice from scientifist, some of whom caution against underestimating children’s potential to spread the coronavirus.

Some schools and nurseries in Denmark and Norway have already reopened, and grandparents in Switzerland are allowed to hug grandchildren under 10, following a ruling by the health ministry’s head of infectious diseases that it is safe to do so.

Continue reading...

The key areas to look at in easing the UK coronavirus lockdown

Posted on by

From schools to shops, with jobs at risk, the government must balance the interests of economy and public safety

As the prime minister, Boris Johnson, heads back to Downing Street, he faces calls from Labour to be clearer about how Britain might start lifting the coronavirus lockdown, now entering its fifth week. On Sunday, the foreign secretary and first secretary of state, Dominic Raab, warned the outbreak remained at a “delicate and dangerous” stage and said it was irresponsible to speculate about steps to modify the rules underpinning government’s “stay home, protect the NHS, save lives” strategy.

More than 20,000 people have died from Covid-19 in NHS hospitals and thousands more in care homes. But there are growing concerns about the economic impact of lockdown. Gerard Lyons, Johnson’s economics adviser when he was London mayor, warned on Sunday the UK could be the hardest-hit western economy if it does not unlock soon. The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, also called on ministers to start talking to teachers, businesses, trade unions and town hall leaders and open “honest conversations with the public about what new arrangements might look like”. Unions insist worker safety must not be compromised by any changes and questions remain about public appetite for risking a new peak of contagion, but plans to modify restrictions are starting to emerge.

Continue reading...

Teachers hand deliver lessons to Aboriginal students lacking internet access

Posted on by

Fewer than three out of 15 families in NSW far west have broadband, making digital classrooms unviable

Teachers in far western NSW say they have been hand-delivering lessons to Aboriginal students at home because families don’t have reliable access the internet and many don’t have computers for their children to work on.

To allow children to keep learning, Wilcannia central school teachers have been making lesson packs for their students and delivering them in person every few days, on a 9km round trip in the school minibus.

Continue reading...

Independent schools demand federal government withdraws threat and guarantees ‘vital’ funding

Posted on by

Education minister had said schools needed to offer in-person education or risk losing funding

Christian Schools Australia (CSA) has demanded the federal government withdraw a threat to independent schools and instead commit to guarantee funding even if enrolments drop off as a result of Covid-19.

On Thursday the education minister, Dan Tehan, wrote to all independent school associations ordering them to provide in-person education to children from term two or risk losing their federal funding.

Continue reading...

Call for schools to open in the summer after lockdown

Posted on by

Children’s commissioner says schools will play an important role, but teachers and parents may oppose loss of six-week break

Schools should consider opening in some form over the six-week summer holidays to help children catch up with the curriculum – and to provide childcare for families who need to get back to work, the children’s commissioner has said.

Anne Longfield said that when schools are allowed to reopen, they could be vital during the long summer holidays. “Whether they are open to all or not, schools do have a really important role, especially for vulnerable children over the coming months.”

She added: “It would be really valuable, if the scientific advice says they can, to have schools consider opening in some form over the summer holidays to help children learn and catch up but also to offer them a safe place to play and socialise with friends. It would also provide vital childcare for families who need to get their incomes back up as they, hopefully, return to work.”

Longfield said schools could bring in play, sports and youth workers to help supervise pupils.

Continue reading...

French reality show seeks to turn around lives of ‘dunce’ pupils

Posted on by

Les Cancres (The Dunces) features pupils coached by celebrities who also struggled at school

French schoolchildren learn an early lesson that failure in the classroom is likely to mean failure in life.

Pupils are encouraged to compete for the best marks and grades that will allow them to study at prestigious grandes écoles and subsequently become part of France’s professional or political elite.

Continue reading...

The longest holiday: parents coping with coronavirus school closures in east Asia

Posted on by

In a bid to stem spread of the virus, schools in Hong Kong, China and Japan have been shut for weeks

“It’s been a long holiday,” laughs Hong Kong insurance worker and mother, Sarah Wong.

Wong and her two daughters, Chloe and Greeta, are at a co-working space in Jordan, Kowloon. Chloe has set her desk up like home, with an iPad, her own lamp, and an aromatherapy diffuser. The girls, aged 12 and eight, are listening to online lessons from their school which has been closed because of the coronavirus.

Continue reading...

Top authors take to Instagram to defend teenage book lover

Posted on by

Callum Manning, 13, whose reviews were mocked by pupils, backed by Matt Haig and others

A 13-year-old boy who was taunted for his online book reviews has received messages of support from bestselling authors.

Callum Manning, from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, created an Instagram account last week to write posts about some of the books he had read. But he was left “devastated” after other pupils at his new school began to mock the reviews in a group chat he had joined.

Continue reading...

Amazon to donate to drug charity linked to Scientology

Posted on by

Exclusive: experts have queried methods of Narconon, which has given talks in UK schools

Amazon has agreed to channel funds to a controversial drug rehabilitation charity linked to the Church of Scientology, the Guardian has learned.

The web giant will make donations to Narconon – which runs programmes for drug addicts based on the teachings of the Scientology founder, L Ron Hubbard – when supporters buy products through the site, with shoppers able to pledge 0.5% of purchases to selected charities under Amazon’s “Smile” feature.

Continue reading...