https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2021/01/26/when-will-schools-reopen-to-more-pupils-and-more-of-your-questions-answered/
Schoolsand collegeswill open to more pupils as soon as possibleas this is best for pupils’ education and wellbeing.But the decision to reopen schools to more than just vulnerable pupils andchildren of critical workersisdependentonpressures on the NHS.
The decision torestrict attendance in schoolsand collegeswas taken because of the wider public health picture-not becausethey are unsafe. This tookinto consideration community infection rates,the safety of members of the public most at risk, andparticularly, theneed to protectthe NHSfrom being overwhelmed.
When will you open schoolsand colleges? You said they would be the first things to open when lockdown lifts.
That’s right – opening schools and colleges to more pupils is the priority, as soon as some restrictions can ease. Since the early stages of the pandemic we have prioritised opening schools, colleges and early years settings to as many young people as possible. That’s why schools and colleges opened their doors to more pupils in June of last year, ahead of pubs and many other settings in July.
As the Prime Minister said earlier this month when the new restrictions were announced:
We have been doing everything in our power to keep [schools] open, because children’s education is too vital and their futures too precious to be disrupted until every other avenue, every other option, has been closed off and every other course of action has been taken.
That is why schools were the very last thing to close, as I have long promised they would be. When we begin to move out of lockdown, I promise that they will be the very first things to reopen. That moment may come after the February half-term, although we should remain extremely cautious about the timetable ahead.
We will reopen schoolsand collegesto more pupilsas soon asthe public health picture allows, in terms ofthespread of the virus in communities and the pressures on the NHS.In doing so,the Department for Education will be guided bythescientific and medical experts, wherethe latestdata and evidence is consideredregularly, includingbySAGE, the Joint Biosecurity Centre, Public Health England, andthe Government’s chief medical officers and scientific advisers.
Yesterday thePrimeMinister said:
Believe me, there is nothing I want to do more than reopen schools. I’ve fought to keep schools open for as long as I possible could.
We want to see schools back as fast aspossibleand we want to do that in a way that is consistent with fighting the epidemic and keeping the infection rate down.
School Standards Minister Nick Gibb also spoke about how schools will open to more pupils in the House of Commons today.
Throughout the pandemic we've been clear: education is a national priority.
But the decision on reopening schools, colleges and unis has to be based on clear public health data and guided by scientific evidence. pic.twitter.com/w6oB0GASd1
— Department for Education (@educationgovuk) January 26, 2021
Is this a change in your position – we thought schoolsand collegeswould go back after February half term?
We have always been clear that pupils wouldgo back to schools and collegesas soon as possible, but only when we knowitwouldn’tpose a risk towiderpublic health.
The Government continues to review the daily incoming data from the NHS andPHE. This helps to inform us of thelatestpublic health picture.
As we approach February half-term, we will ensure that schools are kept informed of decisions around schools reopening.
Soat what point will you say when schools will reopen?
We know just how important it is to helppupils, parents andschoolsand collegesprepare for reopening byprovidingsufficient notice.
We will givestaff,pupils and parents two weeks’ notice once we can be confident that opening schools to more pupils will not put pressure onthe NHS.
Until then, we ask schools and staff to continueprovidehigh-qualityremote education, enabling children to access the help that they need to continue learning whilst at homealongside on-site provision for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers.
If schools reopen will other things have to close?
The easing or increasing ofwiderlockdown restrictionsare based ona number offactors.Thesedecisions are not being made in isolationand schools will be reopened as soon as we know that this will not jeopardisenational collective efforts to control the spread of the virus, save lives,and protect the NHS.
Somore home schooling?
Vulnerable children andthechildren of critical workersremainin school.This is so that vulnerable children can get the support they need, and so thatparents who arecritical workers cancontinue working in services vital to our coronavirus response.
We have also worked hard to ensure that children are able to access remote learning through at-home devices such as tablets and laptops.
As of Monday 25 January, we have delivered over 870,000 laptops and tablets to schools, trusts and local authorities, including over 300,000 since the start of January. We are grateful to EE, O2, Sky Mobile, Smarty, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Mobile, Vodafone, BT Mobile and Lycamobile. We are currently engaged with additional mobile network operators and continue to invite a range of mobile network providers to support the offer.
This has been backed by a £400 million investment in access to remote education and online social care. This comes alongside our commitment to helping young people catch up after a period of disruption to their education through the National Tutoring Programme, which 70,000 pupils have already enrolled in, and the universal Catch-Up Premium.
We also continue to work with Oak Academy who are helping to support home learning across theUK.
