Category Archives: Primary schools

Reopening schools: how different countries are tackling Covid dilemma

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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.

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Boris Johnson drops advice against face mask use in English schools

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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.

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

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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.”

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Ministers accused of ‘radio silence’ over LGBT school protests

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Louise Casey says Birmingham demonstrations have been put in ‘all-too-difficult box’

The former integration tsar, Dame Louise Casey, has accused ministers of “radio silence” over protests against the teaching of LGBT equality at a Birmingham school.

Casey said the government had failed to act on what she described as homophobic demonstrations because it was in the “all-too-difficult box”.

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Teachers strike over pupils ‘carrying knives and brawling’

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Staff given panic buttons at outstanding-rated Starbank school in Birmingham

Teachers have gone on strike at a school in Birmingham rated outstanding by Ofsted where they say “feral” students are carrying knives, threatening staff and brawling in classrooms.

Staff at Starbank school, whose pupils’ ages range from three to 16, have been given panic buttons and are “scared to come out of their classrooms” between lessons, according to a teaching union.

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Year 6 pupils spend Easter at school cramming for Sats

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Teaching officials angry that children are having to attend revision classes over holidays

Children at hundreds of primary schools in England are being asked to attend Sats revision classes over the Easter holidays, a teaching union official has revealed, warning that it was part of a disturbing trend.

Darren Northcott, the NASUWT national officer for education, said revision classes for primary school pupils were unheard of five years ago but that he now knew of hundreds of cases of pupils in their final year of primary – Year 6 – being asked in for “cramming” by their schools ahead of the tests next month.

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